2023 Tennessee Code › Title 3 - LEGISLATURE (§§ 3-1-101 — 3-18-111) › Chapter 6 - ETHICS AND LOBBYING (§§ 3-6-101 — 3-6-309) › Part 3 - LOBBYISTS (§§ 3-6-301 — 3-6-309) › Section 3-6-308 - Administration and enforcement - Duties of ethics commission - Duties of attorney general - Confidentiality

(a)
This part shall be administered and enforced by the ethics commission. To that end, it is the duty of the ethics commission to:
(1)
Develop, with the advice, assistance and approval of the division of strategic technology solutions, and prescribe electronic forms for registration, registration statements, amendments to registration statements, disclosure reports and other information required to be reported pursuant to this part;
(2)
Preserve the registration, registration statements, amendments to registration statements, disclosure reports and other filed information for a period of at least five (5) years, or longer when there is a pending investigation by the commission or any law enforcement agency, or when there is an ongoing administrative or judicial proceeding related to any registration, statements, amendments, reports or information;
(3)
Develop a filing, coding and cross-indexing system consonant with the purposes of this part;
(4)
Issue and publish, upon proper request from any employer, lobbyist or public official subject to the jurisdiction of the commission, advisory opinions concerning the requirements of this part; however, under no circumstances shall a person performing staff duties as an employee of the commission have the authority to issue an advisory opinion, informal or otherwise, except as provided in §
3-6-117
, concerning the authority of a person performing staff duties as the executive director or an attorney to give informal responses in the manner described in §
3-6-117
;
(5)
Accept the electronic filing of any pertinent information voluntarily supplied that exceeds the requirements of this part;
(6)
Review electronic filings submitted pursuant to this part to ensure compliance with the laws administered and enforced by the ethics commission. Filings older than two (2) years shall be deemed to be sufficient, absent a showing of fraud;
(7)
Audit each year the registration statements, amendments to registration statements and reports of no more than four percent (4%) of all lobbyists. The attorney general and reporter, or the attorney general's designee, shall attend the random selection proceeding in order to preserve the integrity of the proceeding. Nothing contained within this subdivision (a)(7) shall be construed to prevent the commission, upon finding probable cause to believe that an employer or a lobbyist has violated this part, from auditing the registration statements, amendments to registration statements and reports of the employer or lobbyist;
(8)
(A)
Compile and publish, on the commission's internet site, the following reports listing:
(i)
All registered employers, alphabetically;
(ii)
All registered lobbyists, alphabetically; and
(iii)
Each subject matter category specified by the ethics commission for purposes of §
3-6-302(b)(2)(C)
, with each lobbyist listed under the subject matter category who lobbied that subject matter category during the registration year;
(B)
The ethics commission may prepare and publish on its website such other reports as are deemed to be appropriate and in the public interest; and
(9)
Impose civil penalties and other administrative sanctions in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5.
(b)
It is the duty of the attorney general and reporter to render opinions and give counsel to the ethics commission upon request of the executive director.
(c)
Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, random audit information and investigatory audit information shall be confidential and shall be maintained as such by the members and employees of the ethics commission and by the officers and employees of the state, in the manner and to the extent that the confidentiality of tax information is maintained by the officers and employees of the department of revenue and the state under title 67, chapter 1, part 17.
Amended by 2020 Tenn. Acts, ch. 690, s 3, eff. 6/11/2020.
Acts 2006 (1st Ex. Sess.), ch. 1, § 35; 2008 , ch. 697, § 4; 2008 , ch. 1182, §§ 5, 6; 2009 , ch. 556, § 24.