Civil Actions

(1) The bureau’s records, employees, and property shall not be made available unless legal process conforms to the requirements of this rule. (2) Other than the general counsel, no bureau employee or former employee is authorized to accept service of legal process for any attempt to reach the bureau’s records, employees, or property. The general counsel may be served in person or by facsimile transmission as follows: General Counsel Tennessee Bureau of Investigation 901 R.S. Gass Boulevard Nashville, TN 37216-2639 Voice: 615.744.4000 Fax: 615.744.4500 (3) The bureau shall have at least 20 days within which to comply. (4) The legal process must describe with reasonable particularity the matters upon which examination or document production is requested. Records are maintained by two different custodians, one for the FSD and another for the CID and DID. (5) In addition, the general counsel may require a written statement setting forth a summary of the testimony, documents, material or information sought and their relevance to the civil action. Any authorization for production or testimony may be limited to the scope of the written statement. (6) The general counsel may authorize the appropriate custodian to make production or may authorize the appropriate employee or former employee to give testimony. Due to resource limitations, an employee will not be authorized to testify for in excess of four hours plus travel time without the express consent of the general counsel. The deposition of designated custodians shall take place at the office of the custodian. (7) The bureau may object in whole or in part to the legal process by raising objections in accordance with the law. Foremost, investigative records are confidential and will not be released absent entry of a protective order limiting their use. The following additional objections are typically made: (a) relevance; (b) privilege; (c) confidentiality; and (d) whether the bureau should be protected from “annoyance, embarrassment, oppression or undue burden or expense” or “unreasonable or oppressive” legal process.