Tennessee § 62-35-117 - Registration cards — Qualifications of applicants.

§ 62-35-117. Registration cards — Qualifications of applicants.

Each applicant for a registration card must: Be at least twenty-one (21) years of age if applying for an armed registration card or at least eighteen (18) years of age if applying for unarmed registration; Be a citizen of the United States or resident alien; Not have been declared by any court of competent jurisdiction incompetent by reason of mental defect or disease unless a court of competent jurisdiction has since declared the applicant competent; If convicted in any jurisdiction of any of the crimes listed in this subdivision (4), have completed serving sentence or court ordered probation at least five (5) years prior to application. Conviction of the following crimes shall disqualify an applicant, subject to the conditions stated in this section: Any felony; or Any misdemeanor involving: Shooting a firearm or other weapon; Shoplifting; Assault and battery or other act of violence against persons or property; Crimes involving the sale, manufacture or distribution of controlled substances, controlled substance analogues, drugs or narcotics; Theft of property; or Theft of services; Not be suffering from habitual drunkenness or narcotics addiction or dependence; Not have any disability that, in the opinion of the commissioner, prevents the applicant from performing the duties of a security guard/officer; and Be of good moral character. Acts 1987, ch. 436, § 17; 1988, ch. 987, § 16; 1993, ch. 200, § 2; 2012, ch. 848, § 64. Attorney General Opinions. Any person, including a sworn peace officer regardless of jurisdiction, who meets the statutory qualifications and requirements, may act as a security guard for a licensed contract security company, OAG 00-166, 2000 Tenn. AG LEXIS 169 (10/24/00). The Eligibility Verification for Entitlements Act (EVEA) can be read in harmony with laws requiring licensure applicants to be U.S. citizens or U.S. citizens or resident aliens and therefore did not impliedly repeal those laws. State laws requiring licensure applicants to be U.S. citizens are preempted to the extent they conflict with a federal law that limits States’ authority to determine alien eligibility for state public benefits, including professional and commercial licenses. State laws requiring licensure applicants to be U.S. citizens also violate the Equal Protection Clause because they discriminate based on alienage and would not satisfy strict scrutiny. State laws requiring licensure applicants to be U.S. citizens or resident aliens are preempted to the extent they conflict with a federal law that limits States’ authority to determine alien eligibility for state public benefits, including professional and commercial licenses. Laws requiring licensure applicants to be U.S. citizens or resident aliens do not violate the Equal Protection Clause, however, because they discriminate only against unlawful aliens and lawful aliens who are not permanent residents. Those categories of aliens are not a suspect class, and the laws at issue would likely satisfy rational basis review. The Department of Commerce and Insurance is not required to enforce the requirements that an applicant for licensure, registration, or certification be a “citizen of the United States” or a “citizen of the United States or resident alien.” OAG 18-42, 2018 Tenn. AG LEXIS 42 (9/13/2018).