Title 39, Criminal Offenses

(a) As used in this section, “prior conviction” means an offense for which the person was convicted prior to the aggravated vehicular assault charge. This definition includes prior convictions from this state or any other state, district, or territory of the United States within …

(a) A person commits assault against a law enforcement officer, first responder, or nurse, who is discharging or attempting to discharge the law enforcement officer's, first responder's, or nurse's official duties, who:(1) Knowingly causes bodily injury to a law enforcement offic…

(a) Grave torture is the infliction of severe physical and mental pain and suffering upon the victim with the intent to perpetrate first degree murder, in violation of § 39-13-202, and accompanied by three (3) or more of the following:(1) The defendant also commits against the vi…

(a) A person commits assault within a healthcare facility who:(1) Knowingly causes bodily injury to another within a healthcare facility; or(2) Knowingly causes physical contact with another within a healthcare facility and a reasonable person would regard the contact as extremel…

(a) A person commits assault against a participant in judicial proceedings who, while on the premises of a building in which judicial proceedings occur:(1) Knowingly causes bodily injury to a victim who the person knows or reasonably should know is present due to the victim's par…

(a) It is an offense to knowingly activate and point a laser pointer or other device utilizing a laser beam at a person operating an automobile, boat, aircraft, or other motor vehicle. (b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.

Criminal homicide is the unlawful killing of another person, which may be first degree murder, second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide or vehicular homicide.

(a) First degree murder is:(1) A premeditated and intentional killing of another;(2) A killing of another committed in the perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate any first degree murder, arson, robbery, burglary, theft, kidnapping, aggravated abuse of an elderly or vulnerable a…

(a) As used in this section, “intellectual disability” means:(1) Significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning;(2) Deficits in adaptive behavior; and(3) The intellectual disability must have manifested during the developmental period, or by eighteen (18) years of age.…

(a) Upon a trial for an offense punishable by death, should the jury find the defendant guilty of an offense punishable by death, it shall not fix punishment as part of the verdict, but the jury shall fix the punishment in a separate sentencing hearing to determine whether the de…

(a) In a trial for an offense that is punishable by death, the defendant, with the advice of the defendant's attorney and the consent of the court and district attorney general, may waive the right to a jury to determine guilt, in which case the trial judge shall determine guilt;…

(a) (1) Whenever the death penalty is imposed for an offense and when the judgment has become final in the trial court, the Tennessee supreme court shall automatically review the conviction and the sentence of death. Upon the conviction becoming final in the trial court, the cler…

(a) (1) In a case of first degree murder as described in § 39-13-202(c)(1) or rape of a child in which the state does not seek the death penalty, but is seeking imprisonment for life without possibility of parole as the maximum punishment, should the jury find the defendant guilt…

(a) Written notice that the state intends to seek the death penalty, filed pursuant to Rule 12.3(b) of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, shall constitute notice that the state also intends to seek, as a possible punishment, a sentence of imprisonment for life without pos…

(a) Notwithstanding this part, a person convicted of a violation of § 39-13-211, § 39-13-212, or § 39-13-215 shall be punished one (1) classification higher than is otherwise provided if the violation occurred as provided in subsection (b). (b) This section applies if:(1) The vio…

(a) Second degree murder is:(1) A knowing killing of another;(2) A killing of another that results from the unlawful distribution of any Schedule I or Schedule II drug, when the drug is the proximate cause of the death of the user; or (3) A killing of another by unlawful distribu…

(a) Voluntary manslaughter is the intentional or knowing killing of another in a state of passion produced by adequate provocation sufficient to lead a reasonable person to act in an irrational manner. (b) Voluntary manslaughter is a Class B felony.

(a) Criminally negligent conduct that results in death constitutes criminally negligent homicide. (b) Criminally negligent homicide is a Class E felony.

(a) Vehicular homicide is the reckless killing of another by the operation of an automobile, airplane, vessel subject to registration under title 69, chapter 9, part 2, or other motor vehicle, as the proximate result of:(1) Conduct creating a substantial risk of death or serious …

(a) For the purposes of this part, “another” and “another person” include a human embryo or fetus at any stage of gestation in utero, when any such term refers to the victim of any act made criminal by this part. (b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to amend [former] § …

(a) Reckless homicide is a reckless killing of another. (b) Reckless homicide is a Class D felony.

(a) A person commits the offense of assisted suicide who:(1) Intentionally provides another person with the means by which such person directly and intentionally brings about such person's own death; or(2) Intentionally participates in a physical act by which another person direc…

The trial courts of this state and the Tennessee supreme court shall give first priority in docketing to cases where the state has given notice of intent to seek the death penalty pursuant to Rule 12.3(b) of the Rules of Criminal Procedure, or the defendant has been sentenced to …

(a) Aggravated vehicular homicide is vehicular homicide, as defined in § 39-13-213(a)(2), where:(1) The defendant has two (2) or more prior convictions for:(A) Driving under the influence of an intoxicant or boating under the influence, as defined in § 69-9-217(a);(B) Vehicular a…

(a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if a defendant is convicted of a violation of § 39-13-213(a)(2) or § 39-13-218 and the deceased victim of the offense was the parent of a minor child, then the sentencing court shall order the defendant to pay restitution in the form o…

(a) A person commits the offense of coercive suicide who:(1) Intentionally, in any manner, advises or encourages another person to commit or attempt to commit suicide for the purpose of inciting, persuading, or aiding the other person to commit or attempt to commit suicide within…

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Advertisement” means a notice or an announcement in a public medium promoting a product, service, or event, or publicizing a job vacancy;(2) “Blackmail” means threatening to expose or reveal the identity of anot…

(a) A person commits the offense of false imprisonment who knowingly removes or confines another unlawfully so as to interfere substantially with the other's liberty. (b) False imprisonment is a Class A misdemeanor.

(a) Kidnapping is false imprisonment as defined in § 39-13-302, under circumstances exposing the other person to substantial risk of bodily injury. (b) Kidnapping is a Class C felony.

(a) Aggravated kidnapping is false imprisonment, as defined in § 39-13-302, committed:(1) To facilitate the commission of any felony or flight thereafter;(2) To interfere with the performance of any governmental or political function;(3) With the intent to inflict serious bodily …

(a) Especially aggravated kidnapping is false imprisonment, as defined in § 39-13-302:(1) Accomplished with a deadly weapon or by display of any article used or fashioned to lead the victim to reasonably believe it to be a deadly weapon;(2) Where the victim was under thirteen (13…

(a) It is the offense of custodial interference for a natural or adoptive parent, step-parent, grandparent, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew of a child younger than eighteen (18) years of age to:(1) Remove the child from this state knowing that the removal violates …

(a) A person commits the offense of involuntary labor servitude who knowingly subjects, or attempts to subject, another person to forced labor or services by:(1) Causing or threatening to cause serious bodily harm to the person;(2) Physically restraining or threatening to physica…

(a) A person commits the offense of trafficking persons for forced labor or services who knowingly:(1) Recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, or obtains by any means, or attempts to recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide, or obtain by any means, another person, in…

(a) A person commits the offense of trafficking a person for a commercial sex act who:(1) Knowingly subjects, attempts to subject, benefits from, or attempts to benefit from another person's provision of a commercial sex act;(2) Recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, p…

Each violation of §§ 39-13-308 and 39-13-309 shall constitute a separate offense.

A corporation may be prosecuted for a violation of §§ 39-13-308, 39-13-309, and 39-17-118 for an act or omission constituting a crime under this part only if an agent of the corporation performs the conduct that is an element of the crime while acting within the scope of the agen…

(a) Chapter 11, part 7 of this title shall govern the procedure by which property subject to forfeiture pursuant to § 39-11-703(c) is forfeited, and this section shall govern the manner in which proceeds from forfeitures are distributed and used. (b) Notwithstanding § 39-11-713, …

(a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Tennessee Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline Act.” (b) There is created the Tennessee human trafficking resource center hotline to be established and maintained by the Tennessee bureau of investigation in a manner co…

(a) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise indicates:(1) “Human trafficking offense” means the commission of any act that constitutes the criminal offense of:(A) Involuntary labor servitude, under § 39-13-307;(B) Trafficking persons for forced labor or services, under…

(a) A person commits the offense of advertising commercial sexual abuse of a minor if the person knowingly sells or offers to sell an advertisement that would appear to a reasonable person to be for the purpose of engaging in what would be a commercial sex act, as defined in § 39…

(a) Aggravated human trafficking is the commission of an act that constitutes any of the following criminal offenses, if the victim of the criminal offense is under thirteen (13) years of age:(1) Involuntary labor servitude, under § 39-13-307;(2) Trafficking persons for forced la…

(a) Robbery is the intentional or knowing theft of property from the person of another by violence or putting the person in fear. (b) Robbery is a Class C felony.

(a) Aggravated robbery is robbery as defined in § 39-13-401:(1) Accomplished with a deadly weapon or by display of any article used or fashioned to lead the victim to reasonably believe it to be a deadly weapon; or(2) Where the victim suffers serious bodily injury. (1) Accomplish…

(a) Especially aggravated robbery is robbery as defined in § 39-13-401:(1) Accomplished with a deadly weapon; and(2) Where the victim suffers serious bodily injury. (1) Accomplished with a deadly weapon; and (2) Where the victim suffers serious bodily injury. (b) Especially aggra…

(a) “Carjacking” is the intentional or knowing taking of a motor vehicle from the possession of another by use of:(1) A deadly weapon; or(2) Force or intimidation. (1) A deadly weapon; or (2) Force or intimidation. (b) Carjacking is a Class B felony.