Tennessee People Search

The six most productive places to start a people search in Tennessee. Each links directly to the official record source.

The Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA), codified at T.C.A. § 10-7-503 et seq., establishes a right for Tennessee citizens to inspect public records. The TPRA is unusual among state open-records laws because it explicitly limits inspection rights to Tennessee citizens, non-residents have no statutory right of inspection, although most agencies voluntarily extend access. The TPRA requires agencies to respond "promptly" (generally interpreted as seven business days) and allows recovery of fees if a requester prevails in litigation over an improper denial.

Common exemptions include ongoing criminal investigations, juvenile records, sealed or expunged cases under TN's expungement statutes, personnel records' sensitive components (Social Security numbers, addresses, medical data), and victim information under Marsy's Law (adopted in TN in 2022). Motor vehicle records are restricted under the federal DPPA.

Tennessee has 95 counties and 6.9 million residents. These four statewide portals will identify a subject's county of residence and point you to the next-level search.

TDOC Felony Offender Information Lookup (FOIL) https://apps.tn.gov/foil/</code>

The Tennessee Department of Correction's statewide search for current and former state felony offenders.

What it's useful for: Verifying state-level felony convictions and current incarceration status across all 95 counties.

BizFileOnline (TN SOS) <code></code>

The Tennessee Secretary of State's modern entity portal, searchable by business name or officer/registered agent.

What it's useful for: Locating a subject's business interests, registered agent addresses, and officer roles.

TN Real Property Assessment Data https://www.assessment.cot.tn.gov/RE_Assessment/</code>

The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury's statewide real property assessment search, rare among states for aggregating all 95 counties.

What it's useful for: Finding property owned by a subject anywhere in TN in a single query.

GoVoteTN Voter Lookup https://sos.tn.gov/elections/govotetn</code>

The TN Secretary of State's voter registration verification tool.

What it's useful for: Confirming current county and precinct of residence.

TN.gov State Portal <code></code>

The main portal for all Tennessee state government services and agencies.

What it's useful for: Navigating TN agencies and finding specialized contacts.

verify.tn.gov (Professional Licenses) https://verify.tn.gov/</code>

The TN Department of Commerce and Insurance's unified license verification tool covering most state-licensed professions.

What it's useful for: Confirming a subject's professional credentials and checking disciplinary records.

TBI Sex Offender Registry https://sor.tbi.tn.gov/</code>

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's registry with searchable map and name lookup.

What it's useful for: Neighborhood safety research and registered-offender verification.

Tennessee's court structure has four trial-level court types, some overlapping: Circuit Court (general civil, criminal, and appellate from General Sessions), Criminal Court (felony criminal, present in larger counties, otherwise merged into Circuit), Chancery Court (equity, probate, some civil), and General Sessions Court (misdemeanors, civil cases up to $25,000, preliminary hearings for felonies). TN also has Juvenile Court and Municipal Courts for specialized matters.

The TN Public Case History only covers appellate cases at the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals/Court of Criminal Appeals levels. For trial court records, researchers must go to each county's Clerk of Court. Major counties (Shelby/Memphis, Davidson/Nashville, Knox/Knoxville, Hamilton/Chattanooga) have robust online case search tools; smaller counties often require in-person visits.

TN Courts Administrative Home https://www.tncourts.gov/</code>

Administrative home of the TN court system with links to individual trial and appellate courts.

What it's useful for: Navigating TN's complex court structure and finding local court contacts.

TN Public Case History <code></code>

The free online search for appellate cases in TN's Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Court of Criminal Appeals.

What it's useful for: Tracking appeals, high-profile case histories, and appellate decisions involving a subject.

Common Mistake

Searching only Circuit Court records in TN. Most misdemeanor arrests, traffic tickets, and smaller civil cases are handled in General Sessions Court, not Circuit. Always check General Sessions dockets separately at the county Clerk level.

Tennessee is unusual in offering a genuinely statewide real property assessment search via the Comptroller of the Treasury. Individual counties also publish detailed property records through their Property Assessor (assessment values and parcel data) and Trustee (tax billing and payment). Deeds are recorded by the county Register of Deeds.

Researcher Tip

Start with the TN statewide property assessment portal (assessment.cot.tn.gov) to find where a subject owns real estate. Then drill into the specific county's Register of Deeds for deed history and the Trustee for tax payment status.

Tennessee's BizFileOnline (also branded TNBEAR, Tennessee Business Electronic Agent for Records) modernized the state's corporate portal. Entity registration is searchable by business name or officer. The TN SOS Business Services page provides additional UCC filings and trademark searches.

TN SOS Business Services https://sos.tn.gov/business-services</code>

Corporate registrations, UCC filings, trademarks, and notary search.

What it's useful for: Complete business research including UCC liens and trademark assets.

TDOC operates state prisons and publishes the FOIL database. County jails are operated by sheriff's offices; most major counties publish online jail rosters. Federal inmates are on the BOP Inmate Locator. The TBI sex offender registry is the official statewide source for registered offenders.

TBI Tennessee Instant Check System (TICS) https://www.tn.gov/tbi/</code>

The TBI provides official criminal history checks through TICS for employment, licensing, and other authorized purposes.

What it's useful for: Official state-level criminal history when a certified record is required.

The TN Office of Vital Records maintains state birth records from 1908 forward and death records from 1914 forward. Marriage licenses are issued and recorded by the county Court Clerk (Circuit or General Sessions, depending on county). Divorce decrees are in Circuit or Chancery Court records.

TN Office of Vital Records https://www.tn.gov/health/health-program-areas/vital records.html</code>

Official portal to order certified copies of birth, death, marriage, and divorce certificates.

What it's useful for: Authorized certificate ordering. Birth records restricted 100 years; death records 50 years.

GoVoteTN offers a simple statewide voter lookup. The TN voter file (full database) is available to registered political campaigns and researchers for a fee under state law. Online single-record search is free for basic registration verification.

Tennessee State Library and Archives https://sos.tn.gov/tsla</code>

TN's state archives including vital records, military records, land grants, and historical state government documents.

What it's useful for: Deep genealogy, pre-1900 records, Civil War records, and historical research.

Supplement with FamilySearch TN Collection, Chronicling America (digitized TN newspapers), SSDI, and the USGenWeb TN Project.

TN has 95 counties. Below are the ten most populous, each with online court, property, and tax resources.

Shelby County (Memphis) <code>County:| Assessor: https://www.assessormelvinburgess.com/</code>

TN's most populous county, home to Memphis. Full online court, property, and tax portals.

What it's useful for: Memphis metro research, criminal, civil, property, and marriage records.

Davidson County (Nashville) https://www.nashville.gov/</code>

State capital and consolidated city-county government (Metro Nashville).

What it's useful for: Nashville research with unified city-county records access.

Knox County (Knoxville) https://www.knoxcounty.org/</code>

East TN hub. Strong online court and property search.

What it's useful for: Knoxville and East TN research.

Hamilton County (Chattanooga) https://www.hamiltontn.gov/</code>

Southeast TN county bordering Georgia.

What it's useful for: Chattanooga area research.

Additional major counties with online court and property records: Rutherford (Murfreesboro), Williamson (Franklin), Montgomery (Clarksville), Sullivan (Kingsport/Bristol), Washington (Johnson City), and Sumner (Gallatin/Hendersonville).

• Understand General Sessions: A huge share of TN criminal history lives in General Sessions Court, not Circuit. Always check General Sessions first for misdemeanors.
• Use the statewide property portal: Unlike most states, TN's Comptroller offers a true statewide property search, use it first to identify every county where a subject owns real estate.
• TDOC FOIL is deep: Includes current and former state felony offenders, making it excellent for historical background research.
• Davidson is consolidated: Metro Nashville-Davidson's consolidated government means unified city-county records, unlike other TN metros.
• TPRA is citizen-limited: Remember that the Tennessee Public Records Act technically limits inspection rights to TN citizens, if a request is denied for this reason, find a TN collaborator or use online tools that require no statutory claim.
• Cross-reference TBI registry: The sex offender registry is statewide and independent of the court case databases.

The TPRA is generally strong but uniquely citizen-limited. TN passed the Tennessee Information Protection Act (TIPA) in 2023, effective 2025, creating California-style consumer privacy rights for TN residents, but this affects commercial data processing, not public records. Marsy's Law (2022) expanded victim privacy rights in criminal cases. TN has strong expungement provisions under T.C.A. § 40-32-101 et seq.

Privacy Note

TN's TPRA restricts public records inspection to Tennessee citizens. While most agencies voluntarily comply with out-of-state requests, it is legally permissible for them to deny non-residents, a genuine quirk among U.S. states.