TCA § 40-30-108 — Answer or response

The district attorney general shall represent the state and file an answer or other responsive pleading within thirty (30) days, unless extended for good cause. Good cause will not be met by a routine statement that the press of other business prevents a response within the thirty-day period. Failure by the state to timely respond does not entitle the petitioner to relief under the Post-Conviction Procedure Act. If the petition does not include the records or transcripts, or parts of records or transcripts that are material to the questions raised therein, the district attorney general is empowered to obtain them at the expense of the state and may file them with the responsive pleading or within a reasonable time thereafter. The district attorney general has the option to assert by motion to dismiss that: The petition is barred by the statute of limitations; The petition was not filed in the court of conviction; The petition asserts a claim for relief from judgments entered in separate trials or proceedings; A direct appeal or post-conviction petition attacking the same conviction is currently pending in the trial or appellate courts; The facts alleged fail to show that the petitioner is entitled to relief; or The facts alleged fail to establish that the claims for relief have not been waived or previously determined. The answer shall respond to each of the allegations of the petition and shall assert the affirmative defenses the district attorney general deems appropriate.