The Tennessee Supreme Court today adopted Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 55 – Use of Technology for Court Proceedings. The rule allows the use of teleconferencing, video conferencing, and other technology to conduct court proceedings remotely at the discretion of the trial or appellate court.
Over the past several years, through grants allocated by the Tennessee General Assembly and administered by the Administrative Office of the Courts as well as grants provided by the Department of Finance & Administration Office of Criminal Justice Programs, 85 of Tennessee’s 95 counties now have video conferencing systems in their courthouses. While this technology has been used extensively over the past several years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the new rule clarifies the use of remote or hybrid proceedings is at the discretion of the presiding court.
The new rule is available here: https://www.tncourts.gov/rules/supreme-court/55