Tennessee § 40-39-301 - Part definitions.

§ 40-39-301. Part definitions.

As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires: “Serious offender” means any person who is convicted in this state, on or after July 1, 2004, of any offense that may cause “serious bodily injury” as defined in § 39-11-106. “Serious offender” includes any person who is convicted in any other jurisdiction of any offense that would constitute a serious offense as defined in this part. “Serious offender” also includes any person who has been released on probation or parole following a conviction for any serious offense, as defined in this part, to the extent that the person continues to be subject to active supervision by the department of correction; “Sexual offense” means any of the crimes enumerated in § 40-39-202(20), including specifically: The commission of any act that constitutes the criminal offense of: Aggravated rape, under § 39-13-502; Rape, under § 39-13-503; Aggravated sexual battery, under § 39-13-504; Sexual battery, under § 39-13-505; Statutory rape, under § 39-13-506; Sexual exploitation of a minor, under § 39-17-1003; Aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, under § 39-17-1004; Especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, under § 39-17-1005; Incest, under § 39-15-302; Rape of a child, under § 39-13-522; Sexual battery by an authority figure, under § 39-13-527; Solicitation of a minor, under § 39-13-528; Criminal attempt, under § 39-12-101, solicitation, under § 39-12-102, or conspiracy, under § 39-12-103, to commit any of the offenses enumerated within subdivision (2)(A); or Criminal responsibility under § 39-11-402(2) for facilitating the commission under § 39-11-403 of, or being an accessory after the fact under, § 39-11-411 to any of the offenses enumerated in subdivision (2)(A); and “Violent sexual offender” means any person who is convicted in the state, on or after July 1, 2004, of any sexual offense, as defined in subdivision (2) or § 40-39-202; or any person who is convicted in any other jurisdiction of any offense that would constitute a sexual offense in Tennessee. “Violent sexual offender” also includes any person who has been released on probation or parole following a conviction for any sexual offense, as defined in subdivision (2), to the extent that the person continues to be subject to active supervision by the department of correction as defined in law. For the purposes of this section, “violent sexual offender” may include offenders whose sexual offense was reduced by virtue of a plea agreement. Acts 2004, ch. 899, § 5; 2006, ch. 890, § 21; 2012, ch. 727, § 50. Compiler's Notes. Acts 2004, ch. 899, § 1 provided that the act shall be known and may be cited as the “Tennessee Serious and Violent Sex Offender Monitoring Pilot Project Act.” Acts 2004, ch. 899, § 2 provided that: “(a) It is the intent of the general assembly in enacting the ‘Tennessee Serious and Violent Sex Offender Monitoring Pilot Project Act’ to utilize the latest technological solutions to monitor and track serious criminal offenders and violent sex offenders in a limited number of counties selected for the purpose of providing a cross-section of Tennessee in terms of location, population and geography. “(b) In addition to providing this state with a more efficient and accurate method of monitoring and tracking these serious and predatory criminals, the purpose of the pilot project is to collect at least twelve (12) months of data on the experience of such a monitoring and tracking system in this state. This data will better enable the governor and general assembly to accurately determine the success or failure of such a program, whether it is worth the expenditure necessary to administer it and whether to expand the pilot project into a statewide program.” Acts 2004, ch. 899, § 3 provided that: “The general assembly hereby finds and declares the following: “(a) The United States department of justice has published confirmed statistics that over sixty percent (60%) of serious and violent sex offenders in state prisons have a prior conviction history and that the number of prisoners convicted for violent sexual assault has increased by an annual percentage of fifteen percent (15%) each year since 1980; “(b) Criminals who commit serious and violent sexual crimes have shown unusually high recidivism rates, thereby posing an unacceptable level of risk to the community; “(c) Intensive supervision of serious offenders and violent sex offenders is a crucial element to both the rehabilitation of the released convict and the safety of the surrounding community; “(d) Mature technological solutions now exist to provide improved supervision and behavioral control of serious offenders and violent sex offenders following their release; “(e) These solutions can now also provide law enforcement and correctional professionals with significant new tools for electronic correlation of the constantly-updated geographic location of supervised serious offenders and violent sexual offenders following their release with the geographic location of reported crimes, both to possibly link released offenders to crimes or to possibly exclude released offenders from ongoing criminal investigations; and “(f) Continuous twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week electronic monitoring of those convicted of serious and violent sexual offenses is a valuable and reasonable requirement for those convicts who are placed on probation; who have failed to register as a sexual offender as required by law; or who have been released from incarceration while they remain under the active supervision of the department of correction, the board of probation and parole, or other state and local agencies.” For the Preamble to the act concerning the transfer of certain functions relating to probation and parole services and the community correction grant program from the board of probation and parole to the department of correction, please refer to Acts 2012, ch. 727. Acts 2012, ch. 727, § 63 provided that the implementation of the act, which amended the definitions of “serious offender” and “violent sexual offender”, shall be fully accomplished on or before January 1, 2013. Cross-References. Probation, paroles and pardons, title 40, ch. 28. Law Reviews. GPS Monitoring of Domestic Violence Offenders in Tennessee: Generating Problems Surreptitiously (Natalie Fox Malone), 43 U. Mem. L. Rev. 171 (2012).