Tenn. Code Ann. § 27-1-124

This is the official text of Tenn. Code Ann. § 27-1-124, part of Tennessee’s Code Ann — part of the compiled statutory law of Tennessee, published by the state as "Code Ann." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Stay of execution - Bond required in civil matters

Official statutory text

(a) If a plaintiff in a civil action obtains a judgment under any legal theory, the amount of the appeal bond necessary to stay execution during the course of all appeals or discretionary reviews of that judgment by any appellate court shall not exceed the lesser of twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) or one hundred twenty-five percent (125%) of the judgment amount. (b) For purposes of determining the amount of the required bond, the court shall not include punitive or exemplary damages in the judgment amount. (c) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), if a party proves by a preponderance of the evidence that an appellant is dissipating assets outside the ordinary course of business to avoid payment of a judgment, a court may enter orders that are necessary to protect the appellee and establish the bond amount, which may include any punitive or exemplary damages. (d) If the appellant establishes by clear and convincing evidence at a post judgment hearing that the cost of the bond and the obligation resulting from the surety's payment of the bond in an amount authorized by this section will render the appellant insolvent, the court shall establish a security in an amount, and other terms and conditions it deems proper, that would allow the appeal of the judgment to proceed, without resulting in the appellant's insolvency. This subsection (d) should be narrowly construed. (e) If this section is found to be in conflict with any rules prescribed by the supreme court, this section shall apply notwithstanding § 16-3-406 . Acts 2003, ch. 276, § 1; 2011, ch. 510, § 7.
(a) If a plaintiff in a civil action obtains a judgment under any legal theory, the amount of the appeal bond necessary to stay execution during the course of all appeals or discretionary reviews of that judgment by any appellate court shall not exceed the lesser of twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) or one hundred twenty-five percent (125%) of the judgment amount.
(b) For purposes of determining the amount of the required bond, the court shall not include punitive or exemplary damages in the judgment amount.
(c) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), if a party proves by a preponderance of the evidence that an appellant is dissipating assets outside the ordinary course of business to avoid payment of a judgment, a court may enter orders that are necessary to protect the appellee and establish the bond amount, which may include any punitive or exemplary damages.
(d) If the appellant establishes by clear and convincing evidence at a post judgment hearing that the cost of the bond and the obligation resulting from the surety's payment of the bond in an amount authorized by this section will render the appellant insolvent, the court shall establish a security in an amount, and other terms and conditions it deems proper, that would allow the appeal of the judgment to proceed, without resulting in the appellant's insolvency. This subsection (d) should be narrowly construed.
(e) If this section is found to be in conflict with any rules prescribed by the supreme court, this section shall apply notwithstanding § 16-3-406 .
Acts 2003, ch. 276, § 1; 2011, ch. 510, § 7.

Status: in_force

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.