Tennessee Code Title 68. Health, Safety and Environmental Protection § 68-3-313

(a)(1) All legal documents pertaining to the adoption, legitimation or order of paternity, together with the certificate of birth in the original name, shall be placed in an envelope and sealed following the preparation of the new certificate.

(2) These sealed documents shall be preserved in a fireproof vault in the department and shall not be removed from that office, except by order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

(3) The sealed documents shall be opened by the state registrar for the purpose of issuing a copy of the certificate in the name at birth, upon receipt of a certified copy of an order of the court that granted the adoption, legitimation, or order of paternity or in legitimations by subsequent marriage of the parents or upon receipt of a directive from the department of human services consistent with § 36-1-126 or § 36-1-127.

(4) Upon receipt of a certified copy of an order from the court of competent jurisdiction ordering the annulment of an order of adoption, legitimation, or order of paternity or the replacement of a certificate of birth in the original name on file, the state registrar shall open the sealed documents, replace the certificate of birth in the original name in the volume of births in which originally filed, remove the new certificate, and place it under seal with the legal documents and the certified copy of the court order.