2024 Tennessee Code
Title 6 - CITIES AND TOWNS (§§ 6-1-101 — 6-59-107)
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT GENERALLY (§§ 6-51-101 — 6-59-107)
Chapter 54 - MUNICIPAL POWERS GENERALLY (§§ 6-54-101 — 6-54-1018)
Part 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS (§§ 6-54-101 — 6-54-148)
Section 6-54-135 - Allowing pet dogs in outdoor dining areas at restaurants

• (a) For purposes of this section, "pet dog" means a dog other than a service or guide dog assisting a handicapped person.

• (b) Notwithstanding any other prohibition to the contrary, certain jurisdictions, as provided in subsection (c), may, by ordinance or resolution, authorize the presence of pet dogs in outdoor dining areas of restaurants, if the ordinance provides for adequate controls to ensure compliance with the Tennessee Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, compiled in title 53, chapter 1, and any other applicable statutes and ordinances. An ordinance enacted under this section shall provide for a permitting process to authorize individual restaurants to permit dogs as provided in this section and to charge applicants and authorized restaurants a reasonable permit fee as the ordinance may establish. Additionally, the ordinance shall provide that:
  • (1) No pet dog shall be present in the interior of any restaurant or in any area where food is prepared;
  • (2) The restaurant shall have the right to refuse to serve the owner of a pet dog if the owner fails to exercise reasonable control over the pet dog or the pet dog is otherwise behaving in a manner that compromises or threatens to compromise the health or safety of any person present in the restaurant;
  • (3) All public food service establishment employees shall wash their hands promptly after touching, petting or otherwise handling a pet dog. Employees shall be prohibited from touching, petting or otherwise handling pet dogs while serving food or beverages or handling tableware or before entering other parts of the public food service establishment;
  • (4) Employees and patrons shall be instructed that they shall not allow pet dogs to come into contact with serving dishes, utensils, tableware, linens, paper products or any other items involved in food service operations;
  • (5) Patrons shall keep their pet dogs on a leash at all times and keep their pet dogs under reasonable control;
  • (6) Pet dogs shall not be allowed on chairs, tables or other furnishings;
  • (7) Accidents involving pet dog waste shall be cleaned immediately and the area sanitized with an approved product. A kit with the appropriate materials for this purpose shall be kept near the designated outdoor area;
  • (8) A sign or signs reminding employees and patrons of the applicable rules shall be posted on the premises in a manner and place as determined by the local permitting authority; and
  • (9) Pet dogs shall not be permitted to travel through indoor or nondesignated portions of the public food service establishment, and ingress and egress to the designated outdoor portions of the public food establishment shall not require entrance into or passage through any indoor area of the food establishment.

• (c)
  • (1) This section shall apply in a municipality with a population of at least one hundred thousand (100,000), according to the 2000 federal census or any subsequent census.
  • (2) This section shall also apply in a county with a population of at least one hundred thousand (100,000), according to the 2000 federal census or any subsequent census.
  • (3) This section shall also apply in counties having a population, according to the 2000 federal census or any subsequent census, of:

    not less than	not more than
    5,500	5,600
    11,369	11,450
    14,300	14,400
    16,500	15,700
    38,200	38,300
    39,200	39,300
    48,000	48,100
    56,700	56,800
    71,100	71,200
    105,800	105,900

Acts 2009 , ch. 508, §§ 1-3.