While no state or county court facilities were physically damaged in the Nashville explosion on Christmas Day, networks, email, phones, and other technical services at the Nashville Supreme Court Building, Administrative Office of the Courts, several boards and commissions, and Davidson County courts were impacted. Some services have been restored by late Sunday and the situation remains fluid. Below is an update as of Sunday evening:
Updated Monday, December 28, 10 a.m.
- The Nashville Supreme Court Building, including the Appellate Clerk’s Office, will be closed on Monday, December 28, while emergency services are restored and tested. All methods of filing will still be available, including the drop box located outside of the building, e-filing, fax filing, U.S. Mail, and commercial delivery services. Questions can be directed to either the Jackson — 731-423-5840 — or Knoxville — 865-594-6700 — Appellate Court Clerk offices.
- Email to addresses with a tncourts.gov domain have been restored. Email sent to a tncourts.gov email address may have been delayed or mis-timestamped, regardless of what part of the state the recipient is located. Email sent during the down time may also not correctly pull down to a smartphone.
- The Administrative Office of the Courts physical office will be closed for the week, with staff working remotely. Technology staff may be on hand to work on servers and systems. Phone lines into the AOC have not yet been restored, but email is working.
- The Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program offices are located in the blast zone and received heavy damage. The physical office is closed. The website and email are functioning. Email sent between Friday morning and late Sunday may be delayed, mis-stamped, or not accessible by smartphone. The phone lines are not currently working. If you have an emergency, please call this cell number: 615-393-2985.
- The Board of Law Examiners will be open, with email and website capabilities. Phone lines to BLE have not yet been restored.
- The tncourts.gov website has been restored.
- The Board of Professional Responsibility is expected to be open and functioning as planned.
- Many of the Davidson County court offices are located within, or just north of, the blast zone, but are not physically damaged. They are on a pre-planned reduced schedule this week. The court clerk offices are scheduled to open on Monday, but may have limited phone and email capabilities. A better assessment will be available on Monday when staff can enter the facilities. Update: All three clerk offices are open Monday. There are phone and elevator issues in the buildings. To enter the Circuit Court Clerk or Chancery Clerk and Master, enter the Historic Courthouse on James Robertson Parkway only. After entry, a guard will take you to the clerk office. The Criminal Court Clerk in the Justice A.A. Birch Building is open.