APD is a division of the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office, which is within the Legislative Branch of Tennessee state government. APD employs a central panel of judges who are independent of the Executive Branch and the agencies whose cases are heard before them.  This independence ensures that an extra layer of due process protection is afforded to all parties involved in each case.

If you want to appeal the decision made in your case, then you should follow the instructions given here and as attached to your order.

If you are concerned about the ethics, demeanor, or conduct of APD employees, including APD support staff or ALJs, then please send your complaint in writing to the Director of APD.

• A nonresident fiduciary is a person who does not reside in Tennessee, or a bank or trust company not authorized to do business in Tennessee, that is appointed by will, deed, trust agreement, court order or otherwise to serve as trustee of a corporate or personal trust, personal representative of an estate, guardian, conservator for an incompetent person, guardian for a minor or in any other fiduciary capacity.
• Only certain types of individuals, banks or trust companies may serve as nonresident fiduciaries.  Please consult Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 35-50-107 for a complete listing of qualified persons or entities. 

APD is partially funded through the Secretary of State’s budget as allocated by the Tennessee General Assembly. In addition, APD charges government agencies $200 to open a case and $100 per hour, after the first two hours, for a judge’s time spent on an individual case. Each government agency and type of case may have specific rules that determine if and how that government agency may recoup some of the costs of a case from the other party.

If you are a party in the case, please email apd.filings@tnsos.gov with your request. If you are not a party in the case, then you can submit a public records request.

A municipality with a population of 1,500 or more according to the 1990 Federal Census or any subsequent Federal Census, which employs an officer or employee responsible for exercising any of the duties of Municipal Clerk & Recorder, must have at least one certified person.   For other municipalities, certification is optional. 

A nonresident person, bank or trust company cannot serve in a fiduciary capacity in Tennessee unless and until it has appointed in writing the Tennessee Secretary of State as its agent for service of process.  This appointment authorizes the Secretary of State to receive and to forward to the nonresident fiduciary by registered or certified mail all process in any action or proceeding relating to any trust, estate or matter within this State in which the person, bank or trust company is serving as fiduciary. 

The appointment document submitted to the Secretary of State must contain the following items: 

• The name of the specific trust, estate, or person for which the fiduciary has been appointed; 
• The name and out-of-state street address (including zip code) of the fiduciary; 
• A statement clearly designating the Tennessee Secretary of State as agent for service of process; 
• An original signature of the nonresident person or the representative of the bank or trust company (or a certified copy of the signed appointment document); and 
• The date the document is signed. 
• The appointment document need not be in affidavit form or notarized. 
• The appointment document must be accompanied by a filing fee of $10.00.  Please make checks or money orders payable to the Tennessee Secretary of State. 

Agent Appointment by Nonresident Fiduciary form is also available.

APD considers cases from most state agencies, various city and county governmental agencies, and state universities resulting in over 430 different types of cases.  On average, approximately 6,000 cases are referred to APD each year.  The majority of these cases involve property tax appeals, TennCare appeals, and appeals from the seizure of an individual’s assets.

• Any person who is licensed to practice law in Tennessee and who satisfies continuing legal education requirements  
• Any person who has been appointed or is acting in the capacity of  a city manager or administrator and who possesses a M.A. degree in public administration  
• Any person who is a certified public accountant holding a certificate as provided in Section 62-1-106 or Section 6-1-107
• Any person who has served as both a city judge and city recorder for at least 25 years

Contact information for APD is provided here

For some questions you may have regarding your case, you may be instructed that your question is better directed to the government agency that is the opposing party in your case rather than to APD. You should direct those questions to the opposing attorney who represents the government agency or contact the government agency using the contact information contained in your Notice of Hearing or Notice of Hearing and Charges.

One example may be a question regarding how you are to pay the cost for your case. APD charges each government agency based upon the hours spent on each case. Each government agency has different rules and policies on if they can then in turn charge the petitioner. If you have been billed for your case, you would have been billed by the government agency involved in your case, not by APD. Questions regarding those charges should, therefore, be addressed to the government agency involved in your case.  

To retain certification, a certified person is required to attend a minimum of  18  hours of continuing education courses every  3  years.   This requirement may be met by attending a minimum of 18 credit hours from any of the following or combination thereof, provided that the hours were not used to complete the required hours of education for certification: 

• The Academy for Advanced Education (U.T.);
• The International Institute of Municipal Clerks annual conference or state, provincial or regional clerks meetings;
• Seminars conducted by the Tennessee Municipal League;
• Leadership and Technical Programs (U.T. Municipal Training); or 
• Job-related seminars.

To be certified, a person must obtain certification from the International Institute of Municipal Clerks or must complete a minimum of 100 credit hours from any of the following or combination thereof:

• The Municipal Clerks Institute (U.T.); 
• The U.T. Center for Government Training
• Seminars conducted by the Tennessee Municipal League;  
• Leadership and Technical Programs (U.T. Municipal Training); 
• Job-related seminars; or 
• An A.A. or A.S. degree (maximum credit of 25 hours) or a B.A. or B.S. degree (maximum credit of 50 hours), provided that credit will be given for only one degree. 

Cases are opened with the Administrative Procedures Division (APD) by the state or local government agency for whom APD is hearing the case.  An individual or business who wants to appeal a government agency’s ruling will file an appeal with that agency.  The agency then refers that appeal to APD.  Individuals do not open cases directly with APD.

• For example, if a property owner wants to appeal their county property tax, the owner will file an appeal with the respective county’s board of equalization.  If the property owner wants to appeal further, beyond the county, then the property owner will file an appeal with the State Board of Equalization.  It is the State Board of Equalization that then refers the appeal and opens a case with APD.
• For another example, if someone is denied coverage of a medical service by TennCare and wants to appeal that denial, that individual will appeal to TennCare.  TennCare will then refer the appeal and open a case with APD.
• There are two exceptions to this process:  1) an individual property owner and a municipality disagree as to whether the property has been annexed by the municipality (TCA 8-3-102).  For these cases, the property owner or the municipality may file a complaint against the opposing party with the secretary of state.  2) a public official challenges a fraudulent lien against his or her property (TCA 47-9-513).  For these cases, the office where the lien is being filed forwards the challenge to APD.  

Generally, APD gets its authority from the Tennessee General Assembly through the laws they adopt, specifically the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act (UAPA) (Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-5-101, et seq.)  In addition, many Tennessee statutes require state agencies to comply with the UAPA in conducting certain types of cases.  For example, the TEAM Act requires that certain state employee disciplinary cases be conducted in accordance with the UAPA (Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-30-318) and the Department of Safety and Homeland Security must conduct procedures about property that might be forfeited to the State under the provisions of the UAPA (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-33-210).  APD also contracts with local governments to conduct employee disciplinary proceedings and with colleges and universities to hold hearings required by Title IX.