County Court Case Papers

Collection

Identifier: County Court-001

Staff Only

Search Instructions

Each file listing includes the title of the case or a description of the file contents. Case titles generally include the names of the primary plaintiff and defendant (if any), listed in the following format: last name, first name (i.e. Smith, John). Additional parties to the case may be listed in the notes for the file in direct order (i.e. John Smith). When searching for a specific name try searching using both formats to identify files of interest.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of case files and other loose papers of the County Court of Montgomery County. A large portion of the materials pertain to probate and guardian settlements.

Dates

1808 - 1989

Creator

Montgomery County (Tenn.). County Court Clerk's Office (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.

Biographical / Historical

The County Court was the first court established in Montgomery County and initially handled the majority of local affairs, including tax disputes, adoptions, and probate settlements. The court functioned alongside the Quarterly Court, which served as the legislative body of the county and was the precursor to the current County Commission system.

As Montgomery County grew, many of the functions of the County Court were assigned to new courts and county offices. In 1978 the state Senate passed a bill to reorganize county governments in Tennessee and the county court system was phased out over the following years in favor of a county legislature presided over by a county executive.

Extent

110.92 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

Materials are arranged alphabetically by plaintiff.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

A large portion of these documents are brittle and very fragile. The majority of this collection is available to researchers on microfilm in place of the original documents.