2019 Tennessee Code
Title 38 - Prevention and Detection of Crime
Chapter 10 - Intrastate Communication of Criminal Statistics
§ 38-10-102. Reports by state and local agencies -- Report by Tennessee bureau of investigation on law enforcement-related deaths.

(a) All state, county, and municipal law enforcement and correctional agencies, and courts, shall submit to the director of the Tennessee bureau of investigation reports setting forth their activities in connection with law enforcement and criminal justice, including uniform crime reports and reports of law enforcement-related deaths.

(b) The Tennessee bureau of investigation shall provide to the commissioner of health and to the general assembly, by March 31 of each year, a report on all law enforcement-related deaths that occurred in the prior calendar year.

(c) The Tennessee bureau of investigation in consultation with the department of health shall have authority to promulgate rules with respect to collection and reporting of information concerning law enforcement-related deaths. The rules shall be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5.

(d) As used in this section, “law enforcement-related death” means:

• (1) The death of an individual in custody, whether in a prison, in a jail, or otherwise in the custody of law enforcement pursuant to an arrest or a transfer between institutions of any kind; or

• (2) The death of an individual potentially resulting from an interaction with law enforcement, while the law enforcement officer is on duty or while the law enforcement officer is off duty but performing activities that are within the scope of the officer's law enforcement duties, without regard to:

  • (A) Whether the individual was in custody; or

  • (B) Whether a weapon was involved.