About TEC

The Tennessee Ethics Commission is established to sustain the public's confidence in government by increasing the integrity and transparency of state and local government through regulation of lobbying activities, financial disclosure requirements, and ethical conduct.

History of TEC

In December of 2005, Governor Phil Bredesen called a special legislative session to focus the attention, will and efforts of the Legislative and Executive branches of government on the passage of strong ethics legislation.  Governor Bredesen’s call addressed a variety of specific issues, including ethical standards of conduct by government officials; contribution limits and disclosure in political campaigns; the open operation of government; the formation of an independent ethics commission; and penalties for violations of ethical standards.  As a result, the 104th Tennessee General Assembly passed the Comprehensive Governmental Ethics Reform Act of 2006 in an effort to protect and secure the governmental process from corruption and abuse and to provide transparency to the citizens of the State. 

The Tennessee Ethic Commission (“Commission”) was created in an effort to sustain the public’s confidence in government by increasing the integrity and transparency of state and local government through the regulation of lobbying activities, financial disclosure requirements and ethical conduct.

The commission has been charged with the responsibility of 1) providing guidance and advice to members of the general assembly, state officials, lobbyists, employers of lobbyists and the general public; 2) conducting ethics training for  government officials, state employees and registered lobbyists, as well as educating the general public; 3)  investigating alleged ethical violations of the law through the assistance of the Attorney General’s Office; 4) reviewing and storing all statements of disclosure filed by over 6,200 legislative, state and local elected officials; 5) administering the annual lobbyist and employer of lobbyist registration; 6) administering the employer of lobbyist expenditure report; 7) interpreting and enforcing gift provisions; and 8) collecting local codes of conduct.