Tennessee State of Emergency: Governor’s Powers and Price Gouging Rules

A Tennessee state of emergency is a formal declaration, issued by the governor under Tennessee Code Annotated Section 58-2-107 or by a local mayor under Section 58-8-104, that activates extraordinary powers for responding to a disaster or crisis. Once declared, the state can mobilize resources, suspend procedural rules that would slow the response, control access to dangerous areas, compel evacuations, and trigger consumer protections against price gouging. These powers are broad but time-limited and bounded by specific carve-outs the legislature wrote into the law.¹

Who Can Declare One

The governor is the primary authority for a statewide declaration. Under TCA 58-2-107, the governor can act by executive order or proclamation, or by activating the Tennessee Emergency Management Plan (TEMP). The authority can also be delegated to a designee when circumstances require it.¹

Local officials don’t have to wait on Nashville. A municipal mayor, county mayor, or county executive can independently declare a local state of emergency for their own jurisdiction, whether the event is confined there or spills into neighboring areas.²

A statewide executive order has to identify the nature of the emergency, the geographic area threatened, and the conditions that triggered the action. It also has to classify the situation as a minor, major, or catastrophic disaster. The order is then filed with the Department of State and pushed out to the public as quickly as conditions allow.¹

What Can Trigger a Declaration

Tennessee law casts a wide net. The governor can declare an emergency for natural disasters like tornadoes, floods, or earthquakes, and also for technological failures, public health threats, and energy shortages. The statute specifically recognizes energy emergencies, defining them as situations arising from a present or threatened shortage of usable energy resources.¹

The practical threshold is whether the emergency is beyond local control. If a county or city can manage with its own resources, a statewide declaration isn’t warranted. Once a situation overwhelms local capacity, the governor steps in and takes direct operational control over emergency management functions across the affected area.

What the Governor Can Do Once It’s Declared

Executive orders issued during a declared emergency carry the full force of law. The governor gains direct operational control over all state emergency management functions and can draw on every available state government resource.¹

Suspending Rules and Commandeering Property

The governor can suspend any state law, rule, or regulation governing how state business is conducted if strict compliance would slow the emergency response. This isn’t a blanket suspension of all laws. It applies to the procedural rules that stand in the way of getting things done quickly.¹

Private property can also be commandeered when necessary to cope with the emergency, subject to compensation requirements.

Evacuations and Access Control

The governor can direct and compel the evacuation of all or part of the population from any threatened area when necessary to preserve life. An Attorney General opinion interpreting this provision concluded that the authority includes forcibly removing people who refuse to comply. The governor can also control access to emergency areas, set up temporary housing, and restrict movement in and out of affected zones.

Commander of the National Guard

During a declared emergency, the governor serves as commander in chief of the Tennessee National Guard and all other forces available for emergency duty. Command authority can be delegated through executive orders, but the governor keeps full authority to issue orders directly as the situation develops.¹

Trucking and Out-of-State Licenses

A common practical use of the declaration is suspending federal hours-of-service rules for commercial truck drivers hauling critical supplies. Under 49 CFR § 390.23, a governor’s emergency declaration can trigger a temporary exemption allowing drivers to exceed normal driving-hour limits when transporting fuel, propane, utility supplies, or utility repair crews.³

Tennessee is also a member of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), an interstate agreement that treats a person holding a professional license in another member state as licensed in Tennessee for the duration of the emergency, subject to any conditions the governor sets by executive order. That matters most for medical professionals, utility workers, and engineers who need to cross state lines on short notice.⁴

What the Governor Can’t Do

The statute draws a hard line around firearms. Firearms, ammunition, and firearm components are explicitly excluded from the commandeering power. The state, any political subdivision, and any public official are also prohibited from imposing additional restrictions on the lawful possession, sale, transport, or carrying of firearms during the emergency.¹

Constitutional protections also keep running. The Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement has a recognized emergency-aid exception that lets law enforcement enter a home without a warrant to protect someone from imminent harm, but the exception is narrow: officers must have objectively reasonable grounds to believe an emergency exists and an immediate need to act, and the scope of any search must be reasonable in relation to the emergency.⁵

The mandatory evacuation power carries its own limit: the governor can forcibly remove people from their homes only when necessary to preserve life. Curfews, travel restrictions, and other emergency orders that reach beyond what the actual emergency requires remain open to legal challenge.

Price Gouging Protections for Consumers

Tennessee’s price gouging law activates when the governor declares an “abnormal economic disruption” by proclamation or executive order. Once triggered, it becomes unlawful to charge a price that is grossly in excess of what was generally charged before the declaration. The prohibition lasts for 15 calendar days unless the governor extends it with a subsequent declaration.⁶

The law covers consumer food items, gasoline, medical supplies, emergency supplies, building materials, repair or construction services, transportation, freight, and storage services, and housing.

The standard is whether the price is “grossly in excess” of the pre-emergency price. The Attorney General’s Division of Consumer Affairs evaluates complaints individually, weighing factors like increased supplier costs and pre-existing price agreements. A price increase alone doesn’t automatically mean gouging; the question is whether the increase is proportionate to actual cost increases.⁶

If you suspect price gouging, file a complaint with the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs, which operates under the Attorney General’s office. Complaints can be submitted online, by mail, by fax, or by email, and those that appear to involve actual gouging are referred to the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division for investigation.⁷

How Long It Lasts and How It Ends

A Tennessee state of emergency cannot last longer than 45 days unless the governor formally renews it. The governor can also end the emergency at any time by issuing a new executive order or proclamation once the threat has been adequately addressed.¹

The 45-day clock is the primary check on indefinite executive rule. Once the period expires without renewal, the emergency powers lapse. The COVID-19 pandemic put this mechanism under heavy scrutiny, and the Tennessee General Assembly has since debated additional limits on the governor’s renewal authority, particularly for emergencies affecting large portions of the state.

When Federal Help and Tax Relief Follow

A state declaration is often just the first step. When a disaster is severe enough, the governor can request a presidential disaster declaration under the federal Stafford Act, which unlocks FEMA funding and resources that go well beyond what the state can provide alone. The request goes through FEMA’s regional administrator, and for a standard major disaster declaration it must be filed within 30 days of the incident. For catastrophic events, the governor can make an expedited or even verbal request. The request must confirm that the state emergency plan has been executed and describe state and local resources already committed.⁸

Presidential approval opens two main channels. Individual Assistance provides direct grants to individuals and families with uninsured or underinsured losses, covering rental assistance, home repairs, personal property replacement, and other critical needs. Public Assistance provides grants to state, local, and tribal governments and certain nonprofits for debris removal, emergency protective measures, and permanent repair of public infrastructure.⁹

Not every state emergency becomes a federal one. The President must determine that the damage is severe enough to warrant federal supplemental assistance, and many Tennessee emergencies, particularly localized storms or short-duration events, are managed entirely with state and local resources.

When FEMA does designate a Tennessee county as a covered disaster area, the IRS automatically postpones filing and payment deadlines for affected taxpayers. There’s no application; the IRS identifies taxpayers in the covered area and applies the relief automatically. The postponement covers individual income tax returns, corporate returns, partnership and S corporation returns, estate and trust returns, estimated tax payments, and employment tax returns. Taxpayers who live or do business in the area, whose tax records are located there, or who are relief workers affiliated with recognized government or charitable organizations assisting in the area all qualify.¹⁰

1
Justia. Tennessee Code 58-2-107 – Emergency Management Powers of the Governor
2
Justia. Tennessee Code 58-8-104 – Declaration of Local State of Emergency – Cost Reimbursement – Evacuation Orders
3
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Tennessee EO76 Hours of Service Waiver
4
Federal Emergency Management Agency. EMAC Overview for National Response Framework
5
United States Courts. Particular Rights – Fourth Amendment – Unreasonable Search – Exception to Warrant Requirement – Emergency Aid
6
Justia. Tennessee Code 47-18-5103 – Prohibited Acts During Declaration of Abnormal Economic Disruption
7
Tennessee Attorney General. File a Complaint
8
Federal Emergency Management Agency. States and Territories Request Checklist
9
Federal Emergency Management Agency. Understanding FEMA Individual Assistance Versus Public Assistance
10
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Announces Tax Relief for Taxpayers Impacted by Severe Storms