RULE 49. SERVICE AND FILING OF PLEADINGS AND OTHER PAPERS(a) Service: When Required. Written motions other than those which are heard ex parte, written notices, every order required by its terms to be served, designations of record on appeal, and similar papers shall be served upon each of the parties.
(b) Service: How Made. Whenever by law or under these rules or by an order of the court service is required or permitted to be made upon a party represented by an attorney, the service shall be made upon the attorney unless service upon the party in person is required by law or is ordered by the court. Service upon the attorney or upon a party shall be made by delivering to that person a copy of the document to be served, or by mailing it to that person at his or her last known address, or if no address is known, by leaving the copy with the clerk of the court. Delivery of a copy within this rule means: placing it in the hands of the attorney or of the party; or leaving it at that person's office with a clerk or other person in charge thereof or, if there is none in charge, leaving it in a conspicuous place therein; or, if the office is closed or the person to be served has no office, leaving it at the person's dwelling house or usual place of abode with some person of suitable age and discretion then residing therein. Service by mail is complete upon mailing.
(c) Filing. Papers required to be served shall be filed with the court. The use of recycled paper with the highest feasible percentage of postconsumer waste content is recommended and encouraged for all papers filed with the court. The filing of pleadings and other papers with the court as required by these rules shall be made by filing them with the clerk of the court, except that the judge may permit the papers to be filed with the judge, in which event the judge shall note thereon the filing date and forthwith transmit them to the office of the clerk. The clerk shall endorse upon every pleading and other papers filed with the clerk in a proceeding the date and hour of the filing. If petitions for post conviction relief or other papers are prepared by or on behalf of a pro se litigant incarcerated in a correctional facility, filing shall be timely if the papers are delivered to the appropriate individual at the correctional facility within the time fixed for filing.
[As amended by order entered May 25, 1993, effective July 1, 1993; and by order effective July 1, 1997.]
Committee Comment
This rule represents the Commission's judgment as how best to accomplish service and filing, given the practicalities of practice and the necessity for meaningful compliance.Court and Advisory Commission Comment to 1993 Amendment
It is the public policy of the State of Tennessee to encourage recycling and the use of recycled products and materials. This policy is reflected in the Tennessee Solid Waste Planning and Recovery Act (T.C.A. §68-31-601, et seq.) and in the Solid Waste Management Act of 1991 (T.C.A. §68-31-801, et seq.). The underlined portion of Rule 49(c) denotes the addition to Rule 49(c) effective July 1, 1993, in which the Court recommends and encourages that all papers filed in the Tennessee courts be submitted on recycled paper.Commission Comment to the 1997 Amendment
Should timeliness of filing become an issue, the burden is on the incarcerated person to
establish compliance with the amended language. The provision relative to filing with the
appropriate correctional personnel is consistent with the United States Supreme Court's ruling in
Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266 (1988).