Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-312

This is the official text of Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-312, 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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Grounds for relief "previously determined" or "waived" defined

Official statutory text

(a) A ground for relief is "previously determined" if a court of competent jurisdiction has ruled on the merits after a full hearing. (b) A ground for relief is "waived" if the petitioner knowingly and understandingly fails to present it for determination in any proceeding before a court of competent jurisdiction in which the ground could have been presented. There is a rebuttable presumption that a ground for relief not raised in any such proceeding that was held was waived. Acts 1978, ch. 750, § 12; T.C.A., § 37-1712.
(a) A ground for relief is "previously determined" if a court of competent jurisdiction has ruled on the merits after a full hearing.
(b) A ground for relief is "waived" if the petitioner knowingly and understandingly fails to present it for determination in any proceeding before a court of competent jurisdiction in which the ground could have been presented. There is a rebuttable presumption that a ground for relief not raised in any such proceeding that was held was waived.
Acts 1978, ch. 750, § 12; T.C.A., § 37-1712.

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.