Tennessee Code Title 4. State Government § 4-21-204

(a) The attorney general is authorized to employ such personnel as may be necessary and appropriate for the division to accomplish the purposes of this chapter.

(b) The attorney general may receive, initiate, investigate, seek to conciliate, refer, and pass upon complaints alleging violations of this chapter.

(c) The attorney general may bring an appropriate action or proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction to achieve the purposes of this chapter.

(d) The attorney general may cooperate with the federal equal employment opportunity commission created under § 705 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-4), and with the department of housing and urban development in enforcing the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq.), in order to achieve the purposes of those acts, and with other federal and local agencies in order to achieve the purposes of this chapter.

(e) The director shall develop and implement a process to receive complaints of violations of this chapter and publish such process on the office of the attorney general and reporter's website.  All complaints made to the division must be filed within one hundred eighty (180) days after the commission of the alleged discriminatory practice.

(f) The attorney general's powers and duties under this chapter must be exercised in conjunction with and in furtherance of the attorney general's authority as provided in title 8, chapter 6, part 4.  The attorney general, in accordance with these provisions, may take appropriate action to enforce this chapter, including, but not limited to, initiating or participating in legal proceedings, issuing civil investigative demands, and utilizing other powers granted under state law to investigate and remedy violations.

(g) In an action brought by the attorney general under this chapter, the attorney general is deemed to lack possession, custody, or control over documents possessed by the general assembly, other state officers, or state agencies or institutions.

(h) In an action brought by the attorney general under this chapter, if the attorney general does not seek to recover for an injury suffered by a state governmental branch or office, official, agency, political subdivision, or other instrumentality, then the nonparty discovery of that entity is presumptively unreasonable and unduly burdensome.