Searching McNairy County Civil Dockets
McNairy County posts no verified civil docket search form. Go straight to the office that owns the case. Circuit and General Sessions files sit with Ashley Littlejohn's Circuit Court Clerk office at 731-645-1015, while Kim Boals's Clerk and Master office at 731-645-5446 holds Chancery. The Tennessee Public Court Records System does not list McNairy County among its participating counties.
Bring a case number if you have one. Otherwise give the clerk the exact caption, the likely court, a filing year range, the case type, and the document or setting you need.
- Sort the matter into Circuit, Chancery, or General Sessions.
- Call the responsible clerk and ask which search fields staff can use.
- Ask to inspect the docket or register and confirm the case status.
- Request a filed order, judgment, or other document separately from the docket.
- Confirm the accepted mail, counter, payment, and delivery steps before ordering.
Going to the counter is the dependable fallback. The county publishes no civil request email, fax, drop box, public terminal, or request form. So plan on visiting or phoning the clerk. A detailed Tennessee Public Records Act request can work too. Name the court, case, date range, and record sought. Ask the clerk to confirm how it should be submitted.
Two McNairy Civil Clerk Paths
Civil filings in McNairy County actually split into two separate dockets. Circuit works as the general-jurisdiction civil trial court. Chancery takes equity matters. It also takes the domestic, probate, trust, conservatorship, and related categories that show up in official reports. General Sessions sits below them with limited civil jurisdiction, including small-claims-type matters where authorized.
| Court | Common record area | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit | Contract, debt, tort, real estate, and other general civil cases | Ashley Littlejohn, 731-645-1015 |
| Chancery | Probate, trust, domestic, equity, adoption, and conservatorship matters | Kim Boals, 731-645-5446 |
| General Sessions | Limited civil and small-claims-type matters where authorized | 731-645-1015 |
A municipal ordinance matter may belong with a city clerk instead. A city court is not a general McNairy County civil court.
Inside a McNairy County Civil Docket
The AOC aggregate report shows no individual civil case entries. A live clerk-held docket should carry the fields listed here. Their exact local labels and availability must be confirmed with the clerk.
| Case number | The clerk identifier for the McNairy County civil docket. |
|---|---|
| Case style | The formal names of the parties, subject to access restrictions. |
| Filed pleadings | Complaint, petition, answer, motion, or notice and its entry date. |
| Service | Summons or return information where part of the public record. |
| Setting | Hearing, trial, motion, or docket-call date and status. |
| Outcome | Settlement, dismissal, transfer, default, trial, judgment, or withdrawal. |
Remember that a docket is only an index. It may note that a decree or probate order was entered without showing the document itself. Ask the McNairy clerk for the filed order, and for a certified copy if you need it to carry weight.
McNairy Chancery Civil Activity
Numbers from the AOC 2024 through 2025 report put McNairy County Chancery at 172 filings and 162 dispositions. Probate and trust topped the filing table with 84. Adoption or surrender filings came to 13, contract or debt to 13, and divorces to 12 in each of the two reported minor-child categories.
These are activity counts reported by the office, not a list of cases. One case can generate more than one tracked count, and a category total proves nothing about whether any named person has a file.
Civil Case Types on the Docket
Civil dockets in McNairy County divide by court and by subject. Chancery's reported categories cover probate and trust, divorce, adoption, conservatorship or guardianship, contract or debt, real estate, and parenting or child support. Circuit reporting adds contract or debt, damages or torts, miscellaneous general civil work, and real estate.
| Type | Likely first route | What the docket may index |
|---|---|---|
| Probate or trust | Chancery Clerk and Master | Petition, notice, order, and disposition |
| Divorce or parenting | Chancery Clerk and Master | Petition, service, motion, setting, and decree |
| Contract or tort | Circuit or Chancery, based on the claim | Complaint, answer, motion, trial setting, and judgment |
| Limited civil claim | General Sessions | Warrant or initiating paper, hearing, judgment, and post-judgment event |
Never guess the court from a broad label alone. Call the clerk when the relief sought or the appeal path leaves custody of the file unclear.
McNairy Civil Sessions Forms
The Tennessee Judiciary's approved forms page collects forms for General Sessions civil courts with civil jurisdiction. Correctly completed, these forms count as legally sufficient. The set includes a sworn denial, an installment-payment request, and a claim-of-exemptions affidavit. It also offers a request to quash garnishment or execution, plus fee-relief forms.
That official list hints at what events may appear on a McNairy County civil docket. It does not prove any one form fits your case. And it says nothing about local filing, service, or payment steps.
Before filing anything, ask General Sessions staff which version they accept. Also ask how it must be served and how the filing shows up on the docket.
McNairy Civil Settings by Court
The path to a civil setting depends on which McNairy County clerk holds the file. Circuit and General Sessions questions start with Ashley Littlejohn at 731-645-1015. Chancery settings and records go to Kim Boals at 731-645-5446. The county publishes no case-by-case civil calendar. A filed notice, a scheduling order, or current confirmation from the clerk beats any old date.
Case type points you to the right office. The official 2024-2025 report places Chancery work in probate and trust, adoption and surrender, and divorce. Parenting and child support fit there too. Real estate and conservatorship or guardianship round out the list. Circuit civil filings clustered in contract or debt. Damages or torts, general civil work, real estate, and an administrative appeal made up the rest. General Sessions may handle smaller civil matters within its jurisdiction.
When you call, give the docket number and the caption. Also give the setting date on the last paper you received and the type of event. Ask whether the setting is a motion, status check, non-jury trial, settlement approval, default, or something else. Ask whether a later continuance order moved it.
Civil Docket Settings and Hearings
Scroll down a McNairy County civil docket. You might see a motion hearing, a status setting, docket call, a trial with or without a jury, a settlement, a default, or a post-judgment proceeding. The docket line itself stays brief. The scheduling order or the filed notice usually carries the detail. So pull those papers before assuming anything. The county posts no public calendar grid. Confirm the current date with the right clerk.
Some entries get misread. A continuance just moves an event. Look for the new setting or the written order that follows. A settlement is not the same as a court-approved settlement. And a dismissal is not a judgment after trial. The Chancery report counted 69 court-approved settlements, 19 dismissals, and 63 non-jury trials. Circuit, meanwhile, reported 26 dismissals out of 35 dispositions.
- Settlement
- An agreed resolution, sometimes requiring court approval.
- Dismissal
- An end to all or part of a claim without the same meaning as a trial judgment.
- Default
- A reported disposition when a party fails to contest as required.
- Non-jury trial
- A trial decided by the judge rather than a jury.
For a full date-confirmation path, use the McNairy County court dates reference.
McNairy Civil E-Filing Limits
McNairy County has no public trial e-filing portal of its own. Tennessee sets statewide standards for trial-court e-filing, but the public eFileTN availability page lists Davidson County, not McNairy County.
A state e-filing product can exist. That does not put a McNairy filing or case image online. Check current filing and copy procedures with Circuit, General Sessions, or the Clerk and Master. TnCIS participation also varies by court office. Recheck the official list. The clerk counter and phone remain the local fallback.
Civil Docket Access Rules
Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 34 gives you a right to inspect public court records, with legal exceptions. A public McNairy County civil docket does not open every attachment. Adoption, domestic, probate, medical, juvenile, or sealed material may be redacted or restricted.
Ask for the precise public product.
Identify whether you need the docket, one filed order, a plain copy, or a certified judgment. Ask for a redacted version when a full attachment is restricted.
No online result is not proof that no civil case exists.
The Tennessee Public Records Act guidance asks that a request describe the record well enough for the clerk to identify it. State fee material lists 50 cents per page for specified plain copies. Certification with seal runs $5. McNairy posts no local schedule or submission route, though. Verify both with the responsible clerk.
Need just one event? Request the docket entry and its linked order by name and date. A narrow McNairy County civil docket request is simpler for the clerk to fill. It also keeps you away from sensitive parts of a file. Those parts have nothing to do with the court event.