Tenn. R. App. P. 25
Exhibits shall be compiled in numerical order and bound in a volume or volumes separate from the volume of papers filed in the trial court and separate from the transcript or statement of the evidence or proceedings. The volume of exhibits shall contain a table of contents listing all exhibits, whether or not they are included in the record. Each exhibit to be included in the record shall be securely stapled to a blank page, or placed in a durable envelope which shall be securely stapled to a blank page, or placed within a plastic sheet protector; each such page or plastic sheet protector then shall be bound within the volume of exhibits. If an exhibit is not included in the record pursuant to subdivision (b) of this rule, or if an exhibit is included in the record but cannot be bound into the volume of exhibits due to the nature of the exhibit, the trial court clerk shall include in numerical order in the volume of exhibits a page indicating the number of the exhibit, a description of the exhibit, and a statement of the reason the exhibit is not contained in the volume of exhibits. All exhibits which are to be included in the record but which cannot be bound in the volume of exhibits due to the nature of the exhibits shall be placed securely in a durable envelope or other suitable container, which shall be labeled with the style of the case, the docket number, and the exhibit number of the exhibit contained therein.
Transmission of the record is effected when the clerk of the trial court mails or otherwise forwards the record to the clerk of the appellate court. The clerk of the trial court shall indicate by endorsement on the face of the record or otherwise the date upon which it is transmitted to the appellate court.
The attorney shall return the record to the clerk in its entirety and in an organized manner, with all volumes of the record intact and with all exhibits accounted for. In the event the returned record is either incomplete or in disarray, the appellate court in its discretion may require the attorney to pay the cost of reconstructing the record and/or may suspend the attorney's privilege to check out records in the future. The clerk shall keep a written account of requests for and return of the record.
Pro se litigants shall be allowed to remove the record from the appellate clerk's office only upon order of the appellate court. However, pro se litigants may inspect the record at the appellate clerk's office pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 34.
TENNESSEE RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE
APPENDIX A: FORMS
Form 1
Notice of Appeal
In the Court for County, Tennessee
No.
A. B., Plaintiff )
)
v.) Notice of Appeal
)
C. D., Defendant )
Notice is hereby given that C. D., defendant above named, hereby appeals to the (Supreme Court of Tennessee or Court of Appeals or Court of Criminal Appeals) from the final judgment entered in this action on the ________ day of _______________ , 20 __ .
/s/ __________________________
__________________________ (Address)
Counsel for C. D.
The notice of appeal filed with the clerk of the appellate court should include a list of the parties upon whom service of notice of docketing of the appeal is required by Rule 5 of these rules.
TENNESSEE RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE
APPENDIX A: FORMS
Form 3
TENNESSEE COURTS
UNIFORM FACSIMILE FILING COVER SHEET
TO (COURT CLERK): ____________________________________________________
WITH (COURT): ____________________________________________________
CLERK'S FAX NUMBER: ____________________________________________________
CASE NAME: ____________________________________________________
DOCKET NUMBER: ____________________________________________________
TITLE OF DOCUMENT: ____________________________________________________
FROM (SENDER): ____________________________________________________
SENDER'S ADDRESS: ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
SENDER'S VOICE TELEPHONE NUMBER: ____________________________________
SENDER'S FAX TELEPHONE NUMBER: ____________________________________
DATE: _______________ TOTAL PAGES, INCLUDING COVER PAGE: ___________
FILING INSTRUCTIONS/COMMENTS (attach additional sheet if necessary):
Unless authorized by the Court, a facsimile transmission exceeding fifty (50) pages,
including the cover page, shall not be filed by the clerk.
Tenn. R. App. P. 25
Advisory Commission Comments.
After the transcript or statement prepared in accordance with Rule 24(b) or 24(c) has been filed with the clerk of the trial court, or after a notice is filed in accordance with Rule 24(d), the clerk must assemble, number and complete the record within 45 days after filing of the transcript or statement or notice. If unable to complete the record within 45 days, the clerk, not one of the parties, must request an extension from the appellate court to which the appeal has been taken. Under Rule 40(g), the clerk forfeits the clerk's entire cost of preparing and transmitting the record, or such portion thereof as appropriate, if the clerk fails to complete the record on appeal within the time specified in this rule. When the record is complete for purposes of appeal, the clerk of the trial court transmits the record to the clerk of the appellate court.
Advisory Commission Comments [1980].
Subdivision (a). Rule 25(a) makes clear that the clerk is not required to bind together the transcript of evidence with the other parts of the record.
Advisory Commission Comments [2003].
Subdivision (a). The new second sentence covers situations where lawyers take no action concerning the transcript of evidence after notice of appeal is filed.
Advisory Commission Comments [2004].
Termination of Parental Rights Proceedings. Rule 8A imposes special requirements governing the appeal of any termination of parental rights proceeding. In particular, Rules 8A(e) and 8A(f) impose special provisions regarding the completion and transmission of the record in such an appeal.
Advisory Commission Comments [2005].
Subdivision (a). The amendment to subdivision (a) changes the manner in which the exhibits included in the record are transmitted to the appellate court. Because individual exhibits occasionally are lost by attorneys who check out the record or by appellate court personnel, the rule is amended to require that the exhibits to the extent possible be compiled into bound volumes separate from the transcript of the evidence or proceedings. The Commission believes that having the original exhibits bound into volumes will reduce the possibility that an individual exhibit will be lost.
Because individual exhibits occasionally are lost after the record is transmitted to the appellate court, attorneys are well-advised to retain duplicates of all exhibits pending the final disposition in the case. If the parties have duplicates of the exhibits, a lost exhibit can be replaced with relative ease; on the other hand, if neither party has a copy of the missing exhibit, it might not be possible to replace the missing exhibit. In the latter case appellate review of the case can be adversely affected.
Subdivision (c). The appellate court clerk's experience shows that some attorneys have returned records to the clerk with bound volumes of the record disassembled, with exhibits missing, or with the components of the record disorganized. The purpose of the amendment to the first paragraph of subdivision (c), requiring attorneys to return the record intact and in an organized manner, is two-fold: (1) to assist the clerk's personnel in efficiently verifying that each record returned to the appellate clerk is complete; and (2) to assist the appellate court, which subsequently will be reviewing the record when deciding the appeal.
The second paragraph of subdivision (c) is amended to refer to Rule 34, Rules of the Tennessee Supreme Court, governing access to appellate judicial records.
Advisory Commission Comment [2007].
A transcript or statement of the evidence must be filed with the trial court clerk within 60 days after the filing of the notice of appeal unless extended by the court. The period was formerly 90 days.
Advisory Commission Comment [2014].
Tenn. R. App. P. 25(a) also was amended to require that the bound volumes(s) of the papers filed in the trial court include a table of contents listing those papers in the order in which the papers were filed in the trial court. Prior to the adoption of the amendment, the practice among trial court clerks varied, with some clerks preparing a table of contents in chronological order, while others prepared a table of contents in alphabetical order (by the clerk's description of each document). Having a table of contents arranged in chronological order greatly assists the appellate court in its efficient review of the record.
Subdivision (h). Tenn. R. App. P. 25 was amended to add subdivision (h), authorizing the clerk of the appellate court to return to the trial court any record that fails to comply with the provisions of the Rules of Appellate Procedure governing the preparation, completion, and transmission of the record. See also Tenn. R. App. P. 40(i) (providing that the trial court clerk's statutory fee shall be forfeited for failing to complete and transmit the record on appeal in the time and manner provided in these rules); Aclin v. Speight, 611 S. W.2d 54, 56 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1980) (disallowing trial court clerk's costs because of inclusion of extraneous documents in the record on appeal). Like the amendments to subdivision (a), this amendment was intended to promote the appellate court's efficient review of the record.
Advisory Commission Comment [2017].
The first sentence of subdivision (a) of this rule is amended by deleting the following obsolete text, formerly at the end of that sentence: "or if proof of service of the notice of appeal has not been filed[.]"