2018 Tennessee Code
Title 55 - Motor and Other Vehicles
Chapter 10 - Accidents, Arrests, Crimes and Penalties
Part 3 - Penalties and Procedure
§ 55-10-306. Record of traffic cases -- Report of convictions to department.
(a) Every magistrate or judge of a court shall keep or cause to be kept a record of every traffic complaint, warrant, traffic citation or other legal form of traffic charge deposited with or presented to the court or the traffic violations bureau of its jurisdiction, and shall keep a record of every official action by the court or the traffic violations bureau of its jurisdiction in reference thereto, including, but not limited to, a record of every conviction, forfeiture of bail, judgment of acquittal and the amount of fine or forfeiture resulting from every traffic complaint, warrant, or citation deposited with or presented to the court or traffic violations bureau.
(b)
(1) Except as provided by § 55-50-409, within thirty (30) days after the conviction or forfeiture of bail of a person upon a charge of violating any provision of chapter 8, parts 1-5 of this chapter and § 55-12-139 or other law regulating the operation of vehicles on highways, every such magistrate or judge of the court or clerk of the court of record in which the conviction was had or bail was forfeited shall prepare and immediately forward to the department an abstract of the record of the court covering the case in which the person was so convicted or forfeited bail, which abstract must be certified by the person so required to prepare the same to be true and correct. Report need not be made of any conviction involving the illegal parking or standing of a vehicle.
(2) Upon receipt of the fee of sixty-five dollars ($65.00) as specified in § 55-12-129, the commissioner shall make a payment of ten dollars ($10.00) for the furnishing of a completed report of a conviction resulting in suspension or revocation, including forfeiture of bail not vacated or payment of a fine or penalty, for one (1) or more of the offenses of reckless driving, driving while intoxicated or drugged, drag racing, driving while unlicensed, driving on a revoked or suspended license, driving an unregistered vehicle, driving a vehicle with revoked registration, failing to stop after a traffic accident, or vehicular homicide.
(c) The abstract must be made on a form furnished by the commissioner and shall include the following information:
(1) Driver's first name, middle name or middle initial, last name, and residence address;
(2) Driver's date of birth;
(3) Driver license number, class of license, and state of issuance;
(4) A statement as to whether or not the license is a commercial driver license;
(5) The license plate number, year, and state of issuance of the vehicle involved;
(6) A statement as to whether or not the offense was committed in a commercial motor vehicle;
(7) A statement as to whether or not the vehicle was transporting hazardous materials requiring placards;
(8) A statement as to whether or not the vehicle could transport sixteen (16) or more passengers;
(9) The date the offense occurred;
(10) The offense the driver was charged with;
(11) The date of the conviction;
(12) The violation of which the person was convicted;
(13) The plea, the judgment, or whether bail was forfeited;
(14) The number of the offense (e.g., 1st offense, 2nd offense);
(15) The blood alcohol level of the person, if convicted of a violation of § 39-13-106, § 39-13-213, § 55-10-401 or § 55-50-405;
(16) The amount of any fine or costs assessed for the violation;
(17) Whether a driver education or improvement course was completed and the date of completion of the course, if eligible under § 55-10-301;
(18) The name of the arresting agency;
(19) The name of the county and court in which the conviction occurred; and
(20) Whether or not there was in effect at the time of the violation an automobile liability policy or bond with respect to the operation of the motor vehicle involved.
(d) Every court of record shall also forward a like report to the department upon the conviction of any person of manslaughter or other felony in the commission of which a vehicle was used.
(e) The department shall keep all abstracts received under this section at its main office and the same shall be open to public inspection during reasonable business hours.
(f)
(1) The administrative office of the courts, in conjunction with the department of safety, shall, on an annual basis, provide information and training to the clerks of court concerning the importance and necessity of preparing and forwarding to the department of safety the abstract forms for the convictions required by this section.
(2) The training and information required by this subsection (f) is not required to take the same form every year; provided, that the information is conveyed in a manner designed to be viewed, understood and retained by the clerks. The information may be conveyed one year by a training session at the annual court clerks conference and another year may be conveyed by mailing, e-mail or telephone.
(3) Any such training shall also include the effect and consequences of any changes in the abstract reporting requirements that may result from changes in state and federal law.
(4) The training and information distribution required by this subsection (f) shall apply to all clerks of court having original jurisdiction over traffic offenses, including municipal court clerks.
