Rule 25 Completion and Transmission of the Record

(a) Time for Completion of the Record; Duty of the Parties. The record on appeal shall be assembled, numbered and completed by the clerk of the trial court within 45 days after filing of the transcript or statement prepared in accordance with Rule 24(b) or 24(c) or, if no transcript or statement is to be filed, within 45 days after filing of appellant's notice under Rule 24(d) that no transcript or statement is to be filed, unless the time is extended by an order entered under subdivision (d) of this rule. Unless the time has been extended by order, if the appellant fails to file within 60 days from the filing of the notice of appeal either the transcript or statement of evidence prepared pursuant to Rule 24(b) or 24(c) or the notice under Rule 24(d) that no transcript or statement is to be filed, the clerk of the trial court shall provide written notice within 10 days to the clerk of the appellate court of the appellant’s failure to comply with Rule 24(b) or (c) or (d), with a copy provided to counsel and pro se parties. After the filing of the notice of appeal the parties shall comply with the provisions of Rule 24 and shall take any other action necessary to enable the clerk to complete the record. The clerk of the trial court shall number the pages of the documents comprising the record and shall prepare for transmission with the record a list of the documents correspondingly numbered and identified with reasonable definiteness. Copies of all papers filed in the trial court, except the transcript or statement of the evidence or proceedings and exhibits, shall be bound together in chronological order; such bound volume (or, if more than one bound volume, the first such volume) shall contain a table of contents listing in chronological order all of the papers filed in the trial court with each document’s corresponding page number.

Exhibits shall be compiled in numerical order and bound in a volume or volumes separate from the volume of papers filed in the trial court and separate from the transcript or statement of the evidence or proceedings. The volume of exhibits shall contain a table of contents listing all exhibits, whether or not they are included in the record. Each exhibit to be included in the record shall be securely stapled to a blank page, or placed in a durable envelope which shall be securely stapled to a blank page, or placed within a plastic sheet protector; each such page or plastic sheet protector then shall be bound within the volume of exhibits. If an exhibit is not included in the record pursuant to subdivision (b) of this rule, or if an exhibit is included in the record but cannot be bound into the volume of exhibits due to the nature of the exhibit, the trial court clerk shall include in numerical order in the volume of exhibits a page indicating the number of the exhibit, a description of the exhibit, and a statement of the reason the exhibit is not contained in the volume of exhibits. All exhibits which are to be included in the record but which cannot be bound in the volume of exhibits due to the nature of the exhibits shall be placed securely in a durable envelope or other suitable container, which shall be labeled with the style of the case, the docket number, and the exhibit number of the exhibit contained therein.

(b) Duty of Clerk to Transmit the Record. When the record is complete for purposes of the appeal, the clerk of the trial court shall transmit the record to the clerk of the appellate court and shall transmit therewith the list identifying the documents required by subdivision (a) of this rule. Documents of unusual bulk or weight and physical exhibits, other than documents, shall not be transmitted by the clerk. The clerk of the trial court shall notify the parties if any documents or physical exhibits are not to be transmitted. The clerk of the trial court shall transmit any such documents or physical exhibits if directed to do so by a party or the clerk of the appellate court. A party must make advance arrangements with the clerks for the transportation and receipt of exhibits or documents of unusual bulk or weight.

Transmission of the record is effected when the clerk of the trial court mails or otherwise forwards the record to the clerk of the appellate court. The clerk of the trial court shall indicate by endorsement on the face of the record or otherwise the date upon which it is transmitted to the appellate court.

(c) Duty of Clerk to Make Record Available to Prepare Appellate Papers. An attorney may request the clerk of the appellate court to transmit the record for the purpose of preparing appellate papers. The clerk shall comply with the request by making the record available at the clerk's office or by sending the record to the attorney at the attorney's expense. Upon receiving the record, the attorney is responsible for its safekeeping and shall return the record to the clerk of the appellate court not later than the day upon which the party's brief is to be filed.

The attorney shall return the record to the clerk in its entirety and in an organized manner, with all volumes of the record intact and with all exhibits accounted for. In the event the returned record is either incomplete or in disarray, the appellate court in its discretion may require the attorney to pay the cost of reconstructing the record and/or may suspend the attorney’s privilege to check out records in the future. The clerk shall keep a written account of requests for and return of the record.

Pro se litigants shall be allowed to remove the record from the appellate clerk’s office only upon order of the appellate court. However, pro se litigants may inspect the record at the appellate clerk’s office pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 34.

(d) Extension of Time for Completion of the Record. If the record cannot be completed within the time permitted by subdivision (a) of this rule, the clerk of the trial court shall request an extension of time from the appellate court to which the appeal has been taken. The request shall set forth the reason for the requested extension and must be made within the time originally prescribed for completing the record or within an extension previously granted. The time for completing the record shall not be extended to a day more than 60 days after the date of the filing of the transcript or statement prepared in accordance with Rule 24(b) or 24(c) or the appellant's notice filed in accordance with Rule 24(d). In the event of the failure of the clerk of the trial court to complete the record within the time allowed, the clerk of the appellate court shall notify the trial court and take such other steps as may be directed by the appellate court.

(e) Retention of the Record in the Trial Court by Order of the Court. If the record or any part thereof is required in the trial court for use there pending the appeal, the trial court may make an order to that effect, and the clerk of the trial court shall retain the record or parts thereof subject to the request of the appellate court. The clerk of the trial court shall transmit a certified copy of the order together with such parts of the original record as the trial court shall allow and certified copies of any retained parts.

(f) Stipulation of Parties that Parts of the Record Be Retained in the Trial Court. The parties may agree by written stipulation filed in the trial court that designated parts of the record shall be retained in the trial court unless thereafter the appellate court shall order or any party shall request their transmittal. The parts thus designated shall nevertheless be a part of the record on appeal for all purposes.

(g) Record for Preliminary Hearing in the Appellate Court. If prior to the time the record is transmitted a party desires to make in the appellate court a motion or application for an order appropriately granted by the appellate court, the clerk of the trial court shall transmit to the appellate court such parts of the record or certified copies thereof as any party shall designate.

(h) Return of Record to Trial Court for Non-Compliance. If the clerk of the appellate court determines that the record transmitted to the appellate court fails to comply with the provisions of these rules governing the preparation, completion, and transmission of the record, the clerk is authorized to return the record to the trial court with a notification to the clerk of the trial court as to the specific lack of compliance with the rules. In such cases, the clerk of the trial court shall promptly remedy the lack of compliance and then promptly transmit the modified record to the clerk of the appellate court.

TENNESSEE RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE

APPENDIX A: FORMS

Form 1

Notice of Appeal

In the Court for County, Tennessee

No.

A. B., Plaintiff )

)

v. ) Notice of Appeal

)

C. D., Defendant )

Notice is hereby given that C. D., defendant above named, hereby appeals to the (Supreme Court of Tennessee or Court of Appeals or Court of Criminal Appeals) from the final judgment entered in this action on the ________ day of _______________ , 20 __ .

/s/ __________________________

__________________________ (Address)

Counsel for C. D.

[1] The notice of appeal filed with the clerk of the appellate court should include a list of the parties upon whom service of notice of docketing of the appeal is required by Rule 5 of these rules.

TENNESSEE RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE

APPENDIX A: FORMS

Form 3

TENNESSEE COURTS

UNIFORM FACSIMILE FILING COVER SHEET

TO (COURT CLERK): ____________________________________________________

WITH (COURT): ____________________________________________________

CLERK’S FAX NUMBER: ____________________________________________________

CASE NAME: ____________________________________________________

DOCKET NUMBER: ____________________________________________________

TITLE OF DOCUMENT: ____________________________________________________

FROM (SENDER): ____________________________________________________

SENDER’S ADDRESS: ____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

SENDER’S VOICE TELEPHONE NUMBER: ____________________________________

SENDER’S FAX TELEPHONE NUMBER: ____________________________________

DATE: _______________ TOTAL PAGES, INCLUDING COVER PAGE: ___________

FILING INSTRUCTIONS/COMMENTS (attach additional sheet if necessary):

Unless authorized by the Court, a facsimile transmission exceeding fifty (50) pages,

including the cover page, shall not be filed by the clerk.