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Courts Where Tennessee Court Cases Were Tried

1796 - 1808

  • Any minor matter  -- Court of Common Pleas & Quarter Sessions
  • Any larger matter & all appeals --  Superior Court of Law & Equity

1809 - 1834

  • Any minor matter  --  Court of Pleas
  • Larger law cases  --  Circuit Court
  • Larger equity cases  --  Supreme Court  (see 1822-1834 also)
  • Appeals of law cases --  Supreme Court

1822 - 1824

  • Larger equity cases  -- Chancery Division of Supreme Court

1824 - Present

  • Business matters (not only disputes)  --  County Court
  • Any law case  --  Circuit Court (which divided into Civil & Criminal courts in some places after 1847. Criminal heard "State" cases and Civil heard cases between individuals.)
  • Any equity case  --  Chancery Court
  • Appeals of all cases  --  Supreme Court

Types of Cases Heard in the Courts after 1834

County Court: Appointment of administrators and guardians; reports of same; wills proved; widow's provisions laid off; road crews appointed; apprentices bound; wildcat/wolf bounties paid; paupers and "idiots" provided for; taxes adjusted.

Circuit Court: (Heard cases of LAW -- where laws had been broken and guilt or innocence was to be decided.) Civil Cases include debt, divorce, assault. State/Criminal Cases include theft, gambling, fighting, murder, bastardy.

Chancery Court: (Heard cases of EQUITY -- disputes in which court had to decide what would be fair to all parties.) Estate disputes; land and slave ownership disputes; business partnership dissolutions; division of property in divorces; incompetency rebuttals; claims against public officials.

Related Links

County and Municipal Records at the Library & Archives
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Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Tre Hargett was elected by the Tennessee General Assembly to serve as Tennessee’s 37th secretary of state in 2009 and re-elected in 2013, 2017, and 2021. Secretary Hargett is the chief executive officer of the Department of State with oversight of more than 300 employees. He also serves on 16 boards and commissions, on two of which he is the presiding member. The services and oversight found in the Secretary of State's office reach every department and agency in state government.

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