Barrett v. Tennessee Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission

OPINION

in which CORNELIA A. CLARK, GARY R. WADE, and WILLIAM C. KOCH, JR., JJ., and E. RILEY ANDERSON, SP.J., joined.

This case presents a constitutional question of first impression: whether monetary penalties assessed by an administrative agency are subject to the fifty-dollar limitation of article VI, section 14 of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee. For the reasons discussed below, we hold that article VI, section 14 applies only to the judicial branch of government and therefore is inapplicable to monetary penalties assessed by an administrative agency, which is part of the…