2010 Tennessee Code
Title 69 - Waters, Waterways, Drains And Levees
Chapter 9 - Boating Regulation
Part 2 - Boating Safety
69-9-219 - Penalties.

69-9-219. Penalties.

(a)  Any person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter, except § 69-9-216(a) or § 69-9-217, including any rules and regulations adopted by the commission, commits a Class C misdemeanor.

(b)  Any person who violates § 69-9-216(a) commits a Class A misdemeanor.

(c)  (1)  Any person violating the provisions of § 69-9-217(a) commits a Class A misdemeanor and, upon conviction for the first offense, shall be fined not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), and in the discretion of the court, shall be confined in the county jail or workhouse for a period not to exceed eleven (11) months and twenty-nine (29) days. In the discretion of the court, in addition to a fine or a jail sentence, or both, the person's privilege to operate any vessel subject to registration on the public waters of the state shall be suspended for a period not to exceed one (1) year. For conviction of the second offense, there shall be imposed a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), and in the discretion of the court, the person shall be confined in the county jail or workhouse for a period not to exceed eleven (11) months and twenty-nine (29) days, and the court shall prohibit such convicted person from operating any vessel subject to registration on the public waters of the state for a period of two (2) years. For the third or subsequent conviction, there shall be imposed a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) and the person shall be confined in the county jail or workhouse for not less than thirty (30) days nor more than eleven (11) months and twenty-nine (29) days, and the court shall prohibit such convicted person or persons from operating any vessel subject to registration on the public waters of the state for a period of not less than three (3) years nor more than ten (10) years.

     (2)  The court, in its discretion, may require a person convicted of a violation of the provisions of § 69-9-217(a) to remove litter from public areas, playgrounds, picnic ramps and areas giving the public access to the public waters of the state or to work in a recycling center or other appropriate location for any prescribed period of time in addition to any of the penalties otherwise provided in this section. Any person sentenced to remove litter under the circumstances set out in this subdivision (c)(2) shall be allowed to do so at a time other than that person's regular hours of employment.

     (3)  For purposes of this section, a person whose convictions for violating the provisions of § 69-9-217(a) occur more than ten (10) years apart is not considered a multiple offender and the penalties imposed upon multiple offenders by the provisions of subdivisions (c)(1) and (c)(2) do not apply to such person.

     (4)  No person charged with a violation of § 69-9-217(a) shall be eligible for suspension of prosecution and dismissal of charges pursuant to the provisions of §§ 40-15-102 40-15-105 and 40-32-101(a)(3)-(c)(3), or for any other pretrial diversion program, nor shall any person convicted under § 69-9-217(a) be eligible for suspension of sentence or probation pursuant to title 40, chapter 35, part 3, or any other provision of law authorizing suspension of sentence or probation, until such time as the person has fully served day for day at least the minimum sentence provided by law.

     (5)  All persons sentenced under subdivision (c)(1) or (c)(2) shall be required to serve the difference between the time actually served and the maximum sentence on probation. The judge, in the judge's discretion, may impose any conditions of probation that are reasonably related to the offense but shall impose the following conditions:

          (A)  Participation in an alcohol safety Boating under the Influence (BUI) school program, if available;

          (B)  Upon the second or subsequent conviction for violating the provisions of § 69-9-217(a), participation in a program of rehabilitation at an alcohol treatment facility, if available; and

          (C)  The payment of restitution to any person suffering physical injury or personal losses as the result of such offense, if such person is economically capable of making such restitution.

     (6)  (A)  Any person convicted under § 69-9-217(a) of an initial or subsequent offense shall be advised in writing of the penalty for second and subsequent convictions, and, in addition, when pronouncing sentence, the judge shall advise the defendant of the penalties for additional offenses.

          (B)  In the prosecution of second or subsequent offenders, the indictment or charging instrument must allege the prior convictions for violating any of the provisions of § 69-9-217(a), setting forth the time and place of each prior conviction or convictions.

     (7)  In addition to all other fines, fees, costs and punishments now prescribed by law, in any county having a county operated blood alcohol concentration testing facility, a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) test fee in the amount of seventeen dollars and fifty cents ($17.50) will be assessed upon conviction of an offense of operating a vessel subject to registration for each offender who has taken a breath-alcohol test on an evidential breath testing unit provided, maintained and administered by a law enforcement agency in the counties or where breath, blood or urine has been analyzed by a publicly funded forensic laboratory. This fee shall be collected by the clerks of various courts of the counties and forwarded to the county trustee on a monthly basis, and designated for exclusive use by the law enforcement testing unit of the counties if the BAC test was conducted on an evidential breath testing unit. If the blood alcohol test was conducted by a publicly funded forensic laboratory, the fee shall be collected by the clerks of the various courts of the counties and forwarded to the county trustee on a monthly basis and designated for exclusive use by the publicly funded forensic laboratory.

     (8)  No person arrested under the provisions of this subsection (c) shall be subject to strip searches or body cavity searches, or both, unless the arresting officer has probable cause to believe the arrested person may be concealing a weapon or contraband, or both, in such person's body cavity. “Contraband” includes, but is not limited to, illegal drugs.

(d)  Any person violating the provisions of § 69-9-217(m) commits a Class B misdemeanor and, upon conviction of the violation, shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or shall be confined in the county jail or workhouse for no more than thirty days (30), or both.

[Acts 1965, ch. 334, § 21; 1967, ch. 153, § 1; T.C.A., §§ 70-2221, 69-10-217; Acts 1989, ch. 92, §§ 7-9; 1989, ch. 591, § 113; 1990, ch. 981, § 2; T.C.A. § 69-10-219; Acts 2007, ch. 185, § 13.]