Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-3-103: Establishment of office of vital records — Rules and regulations — Enforcement — Registration districts — Seal.

The department shall:

(1) Establish an office of vital records with suitable offices, which shall be properly equipped with fireproof vault and filing cases for the preservation of all official records made and received under this chapter or under the regulations of the department;

(2) Make and amend, with the approval of the public health council [repealed], regulations necessary for the creation and efficient performance of an adequate system of vital records, and give instructions and prescribe forms for collecting, transcribing, compiling and preserving vital records;

(3) Enforce this chapter and the regulations made pursuant to this chapter;

(4) Provide a seal of office;

(5) Divide the state into vital records registration districts. The department may from time to time, as conditions justify, change their boundaries. The subdivisions of the state on July 1, 1977, shall be continued until changed by the department; and

(6) Make and amend rules and regulations necessary for the tracking and disposition of an aborted fetus or aborted fetal tissue resulting from surgical abortions.