As of July 1, 2024, new laws take effect which significantly impact Driving Under the Influence in Tennessee. Previously a DUI 1st Offense with a blood alcohol content of 0.20, which is two and a half times the legal limit, carried a mandatory minimum 7 days in county jail. The mandatory minimum jail sentence [...]
The short answer is yes. The State has prohibited possession and denied the purchase of firearms for people with misdemeanor convictions that would otherwise be legal to purchase, own, and conceal carry firearms. Some Tennesseans, never being informed their rights were being limited, have attempted to purchase firearms, and learned the hard way. Most [...]
Transdermal Devices and DUIs – Last July, the Tennessee legislature changed the DUI statute creating a requirement for a person charged with a DUI to wear a transdermal device or have an ignition interlock device put on their vehicle within 10 days of being arrested. The person must wear the transdermal device or have the ignition interlock [...]
Weapons on School Property – Two new laws passed that affect one’s ability to carry a weapon onto school property. The first allows adults to carry a pocketknife on school property while voting in elections, so long as the knife always remains concealed, and the school is their designated polling place. The second law allows [...]
Move Over Law – Titled the “Jabari Bailey Highway Safety Act,” this law increases penalties for those who fail to move over or slow down for stationary vehicles on the side of the road. Previously, only emergency vehicles were included in this statute; however, now any stationary vehicle on the side of the road could [...]
Immunity from Prosecution for Overdosing – Updating an older law, new language in Tenn. Code Ann. § 63-1-156(b) states, “Any person who is experiencing a drug overdose and who in good faith seeks medical assistance for or is the subject of a request for medical assistance shall not be arrested, charged, or prosecuted for a [...]
“Silas Gable Flatt” Law – This new law, found in Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-456, now makes it an offense for a person to “knowingly provide a motor vehicle to another person who the provider of the vehicle knows, or reasonably should know is under the influence of an intoxicant, marijuana, controlled substance” etc. It [...]
