Tennessee § 67-1-509 - Qualifications — Confidentiality of examinations.

§ 67-1-509. Qualifications — Confidentiality of examinations.

To assure that the assessment functions will be performed in a professional manner by competent assessors, meeting clearly specified professional qualifications, the state board of equalization is authorized and directed to prescribe educational and training courses to be taken by assessors and their deputies, and to specify qualification requirements for certification of anyone who is to be engaged to appraise and assess property for the purpose of taxation. Such educational and training courses shall include information on the assessment of conservation and scenic easements and other instruments that limit or restrict the use, management, alteration, demolition or transfer of property for the purpose of preserving property that is of historical, architectural, archaeological or cultural value. The state board of equalization may authorize the division of property assessments to administer this function under the control and supervision of the state board, to specify the certification requirements of persons who are to be certificated as qualified as local assessors of property, and to prescribe qualifications of those who are to be certified as qualified to act as deputy assessors. Any specifications or qualifications that shall be determined upon as a prerequisite to receiving and holding a certificate from the state board as qualified to be an assessor or a deputy assessor of property shall be approved and promulgated by the state board of equalization. It is the legislative intent that this section shall not serve to prevent any duly elected or appointed assessor of property from assuming such office or performing the assessor's legally specified duties. Notwithstanding § 4-19-101, all examinations administered by the comptroller of the treasury as part of the assessment certification and education program, including, but not limited to, the total bank of questions from which the tests are developed, the answers, and the answer sheets of individual test takers, shall be confidential and shall not be public records or state records open for public inspection pursuant to § 10-7-503. Acts 1973, ch. 226, § 3; T.C.A., § 67-333; Acts 1988, ch. 531, § 1; 2015, ch. 211, § 1. Amendments. The 2015 amendment added (e). Effective Dates. Acts 2015, ch. 211, § 3. April 20, 2015. Cross-References. Confidentiality of public records, § 10-7-504 . Cited: Pharris v. Looper, 6 F. Supp. 2d 720, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7843 (M.D. Tenn. 1998).