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2021 Tennessee Code
Title 39 - Criminal Offenses
Chapter 14 - Offenses Against Property
Part 4 - Burglary and Related Offenses
§ 39-14-408. Vandalism

Universal Citation: TN Code § 39-14-408 (2021)
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  1. For purposes of this section:

    1. “Damage” includes, but is not limited to:

      1. Destroying, polluting, or contaminating property;

      2. Tampering with property and causing pecuniary loss or substantial inconvenience to the owner or a third person;

      3. Intentionally spilling, pouring, or otherwise administering chemicals or other toxic substances to or on the merchandise with the intent to:
        1. Render the merchandise unusable or unsellable; or

        2. Alter the merchandise from its original or intended form;

      4. Destroying, harming, or decreasing the value of merchandise offered for sale by a retail merchant in any other manner; or

      5. Intentionally marring, marking upon, or defacing, in a temporary or permanent manner, state or local government property or any entrance or curtilage to or fixture on the property, with the exception of temporary marking of sidewalks;

    2. “Merchandise” includes any goods, chattels, foodstuffs, or wares of any type of description, regardless of the value;

    3. “Polluting” means the contamination by man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological, or radiological integrity of the atmosphere, water, or soil to the material injury of the right of another. Pollutants include dredged soil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste;

    4. “Retail merchant” means any person primarily engaged in the business of making retail sales. For purposes of this subdivision (a)(4), “primarily” means that at least fifty percent (50%) of the taxable gross sales of the business are retail sales; and

    5. “Retail sale” or “sale at retail” means any sale other than a wholesale sale.

  2. A person commits the offense of vandalism who knowingly:

    1. Causes damage to or the destruction of any real or personal property of another or of the state, the United States, any county, city, or town knowing that the person does not have the owner's effective consent;

    2. Solicits, directs, aids, or attempts to aid another to commit vandalism of a retail merchant, while acting with the intent to promote or assist the commission of vandalism of a retail merchant, or to benefit in the proceeds or results of the offense;

    3. Damages merchandise offered for retail sale by a retail merchant; or

    4. Facilitates commission of vandalism of a retail merchant or acts as an accessory after the fact to vandalism of a retail merchant.



      1. A person violating subdivision (b)(1) or (b)(3) is a principal under § 39-11-401 and shall be punished as for theft under § 39-14-105, after determining value under § 39-11-106.

      2. In addition to any sentence imposed for a violation of subdivision (b)(1) or (b)(3), the court shall include an order of restitution for any property damage or loss or cleaning and restoration expenses incurred as a result of the offense.

    2. A person violating subdivision (b)(2) is a principal under § 39-11-402 and shall be punished as for theft under § 39-14-105, after determining value under § 39-11-106.

    3. A person violating subdivision (b)(4) by facilitating a felony act of vandalism committed under subdivision (b)(1) or (b)(3), shall be punished one (1) classification lower than the value of the act of vandalism committed under subdivision (b)(1) or (b)(3).

    4. A person violating subdivision (b)(4) as an accessory after the fact, under § 39-11-411, to a felony act of vandalism committed under subdivision (b)(1) or (b)(3) commits a Class E felony.

    5. Notwithstanding subdivision (c)(1)(A), a person violating subdivision (b)(1) by intentionally marring, marking upon, or defacing, in a temporary or permanent manner, state or local government property or any entrance or curtilage to or fixture on state or local government property, where the value determination under § 39-11-106 is less than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), commits a Class A misdemeanor, unless the state or local government property is designated as a historic landmark or listed on the national register of historic places, in which case the violation shall be punished in accordance with subdivision (c)(1). In addition, a second or subsequent violation of subdivision (b)(1) with respect to state or local government property shall be punished by a mandatory fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000).
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