2010 Tennessee Code
Title 39 - Criminal Offenses
Chapter 16 - Offenses Against Administration of Government
Part 6 - Obstruction of Justice
39-16-602 - Resisting stop, frisk, halt, arrest or search Prevention or obstruction of service of legal writ or process.

39-16-602. Resisting stop, frisk, halt, arrest or search Prevention or obstruction of service of legal writ or process.

(a)  It is an offense for a person to intentionally prevent or obstruct anyone known to the person to be a law enforcement officer, or anyone acting in a law enforcement officer's presence and at the officer's direction, from effecting a stop, frisk, halt, arrest or search of any person, including the defendant, by using force against the law enforcement officer or another.

(b)  Except as provided in § 39-11-611, it is no defense to prosecution under this section that the stop, frisk, halt, arrest or search was unlawful.

(c)  It is an offense for a person to intentionally prevent or obstruct an officer of the state or any other person known to be a civil process server in serving, or attempting to serve or execute, any legal writ or process.

(d)  A violation of this section is a Class B misdemeanor unless the defendant uses a deadly weapon to resist the stop, frisk, halt, arrest, search or process server, in which event the violation is a Class A misdemeanor.

[Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1; 1991, ch. 307, § 1; 1999, ch. 178, § 1.]