(a) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Criminal gang" means a formal or informal ongoing organization, association, or group consisting of three (3) or more persons that has:
(A) As one (1) of its activities the commission of criminal acts; and
(B) Two (2) or more members who, individually or collectively, engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity;
(2) "Criminal gang member" is a person who is a member of a criminal gang, as defined in subdivision (a)(1), and who meets two (2) or more of the following criteria:
(A) Admits to criminal gang involvement;
(B) Is identified as a criminal gang member by a parent or guardian;
(C) Is identified as a criminal gang member by a documented reliable informant;
(D) Resides in or frequents a particular criminal gang’s area, adopts their style or dress, their use of hand signs or their tattoos, and associates with known criminal gang members;
(E) Is identified as a criminal gang member by an informant of previously untested reliability and such identification is corroborated by independent information;
(F) Has been arrested more than once in the company of identified criminal gang members for offenses which are consistent with usual criminal gang activity; or
(G) Is identified as a criminal gang member by physical evidence such as photographs
or other documentation;
(3) "Criminal gang offense" means any violation of Tennessee law:
(A) During the perpetration of which the defendant knowingly causes, or threatens to cause, death or bodily injury to another person or persons and specifically includes rape of a child, aggravated rape and rape; or
(B) That results, or was intended to result, in the defendant receiving income, benefit, property, money or anything of value from the illegal sale, delivery or manufacture of a controlled substance or firearm; and
(4) (A) "Pattern of criminal gang activity" means prior convictions for the commission or attempted commission of, or solicitation or conspiracy to commit:
(i) Two (2) or more criminal gang offenses that are classified as felonies; or
(ii) Three (3) or more criminal gang offenses that are classified as misdemeanors; or
(iii) One (1) or more criminal gang offense that is classified as a felony and two (2) or more criminal gang offenses that are classified as misdemeanors; and
(iv) The criminal gang offenses are committed on separate occasions; and
(v) The criminal gang offenses are committed within a five-year period.
(B) (i) As used in this subsection, "prior conviction" means a criminal gang offense for which a criminal gang member was convicted prior to the commission of the instant criminal gang offense by the defendant and includes convictions occurring prior to July 1, 1997.
(ii) "Prior conviction" includes convictions under the laws of any other state, government, or country which, if committed in this state, would have constituted a criminal gang offense. In the event that a conviction from a jurisdiction other than Tennessee is not specifically named the same as a criminal gang offense, the elements of the offense in the other jurisdiction shall be used by the Tennessee court to determine if such offense is a criminal gang offense.
(iii) Convictions for multiple criminal gang offenses committed as part of a single course of conduct within twenty-four (24) hours are not committed on "separate occasions." However, acts which constitute criminal gang offenses under subdivision (a)(3)(A) shall not be construed to be a single course of conduct.
(b) A criminal gang offense committed by a defendant who was a criminal gang member at the time of such offense shall be punished one (1) classification higher than the classification established by the specific statute creating the offense committed.
(c) A criminal gang offense committed by a defendant who was not a criminal gang member at the time of such offense but who committed such offense for the purpose of and with the intent to fulfill an initiation or other requirement for joining a criminal gang as defined in subdivision (a)(1) shall be punished one (1) classification higher than the classification established by the specific statute creating the offense committed.
(d) If the criminal gang offense subject to enhancement under subsection (b) or (c) is a Class A felony, the presumptive sentence for such offense shall be the maximum sentence within the range from which the defendant is to be sentenced.
(e) A criminal gang offense committed by a defendant who was a criminal gang member at the time of such offense shall be punished two (2) classifications higher than the classification established by the specific statute creating the offense committed if the criminal gang member was also a leader or organizer of the criminal gang at the time the offense was committed.
(f) If the criminal gang offense subject to enhancement under subsection (e) is a Class A or B felony, the criminal gang member shall be sentenced as a Class A felon and the presumptive sentence for such offense shall be the maximum sentence within the range from which the defendant is to be sentenced.
(g) If the defendant is charged with a criminal gang offense and the district attorney general intends to seek enhancement of the punishment under subsection (b), (c) or (e), the indictment, in a separate count, shall specify, charge and give notice of the subsection under which enhancement is alleged applicable and of the required prior convictions constituting such gang’s pattern of criminal gang activity.
(h) If the defendant is convicted of the underlying criminal gang offense, the jury shall then separately consider whether the defendant was at the time of the offense:
(1) A criminal gang member;
(2) A criminal gang member and a leader or organizer of the gang; or
(3) Not a criminal gang member but committed the offense for the purpose of joining a criminal gang.
If the jury convicts the defendant under subdivision (h)(1), (2) or (3), the court shall pronounce judgment and sentence the defendant as provided in this section.
(Top)(a) The commissioner of education, in consultation with the commissioner of safety, shall develop advisory guidelines for LEAs to use in developing safe and secure learning environments in schools by January 1, 1997. Such guidelines shall emphasize consultation at the local level with appropriate law enforcement authorities.
(b) The department of education may prepare and distribute to LEAs guidelines for incorporating into local staff development and in-service training the materials and speakers necessary to help educators reduce gang and individual violence, to assist in drug and alcohol abuse prevention, and to provide educators with the tools for nonintrusive identification of potentially violent individuals in and around schools. The department may, upon request, assist LEAs in developing comprehensive violence, drug and alcohol abuse prevention in-service training programs. Department guidelines shall encourage the sharing of resources, the development of joint or collaborative programs, and the coordination of efforts with local health departments, county and city law enforcement agencies, and other public agencies providing health, drug, alcohol, gang violence prevention, and other related services.
(Top)The local and county boards of education of this state are hereby authorized to promulgate and adopt rules and regulations to prohibit students in grades six (6) through twelve (12) from wearing, while on school property, any type of clothing, apparel or accessory, including that which denotes such students’ membership in or affiliation with any gang associated with criminal activities. The local law enforcement agency shall advise the local board, upon request, of gangs which are associated with criminal activities.
(Top)(a) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Criminal gang" means a formal or informal ongoing organization, association, or group consisting of three (3) or more persons that has:
(A) As one (1) of its activities the commission of criminal acts; and
(B) Two (2) or more members who, individually or collectively, engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity;
(2) "Criminal gang member" is a person who is a member of a criminal gang, as defined in subdivision (a)(1), and who meets two (2) or more of the following criteria:
(A) Admits to criminal gang involvement;
(B) Is identified as a criminal gang member by a parent or guardian;
(C) Is identified as a criminal gang member by a documented reliable informant;
(D) Resides in or frequents a particular criminal gang’s area, adopts their style or dress, their use of hand signs or their tattoos, and associates with known criminal gang members;
(E) Is identified as a criminal gang member by an informant of previously untested reliability and such identification is corroborated by independent information;
(F) Has been arrested more than once in the company of identified criminal gang members for offenses which are consistent with usual criminal gang activity; or
(G) Is identified as a criminal gang member by physical evidence such as photographs or other documentation;
(3) "Criminal gang offense" means any violation of Tennessee law:
(A) During the perpetration of which the defendant knowingly causes, or threatens to cause, death or bodily injury to another person or persons and specifically includes rape of a child, aggravated rape and rape; or
(B) That results, or was intended to result, in the defendant receiving income, benefit, property, money or anything of value from the illegal sale, delivery or manufacture of a controlled substance or firearm; and
(4) (A) "Pattern of criminal gang activity" means prior convictions for the commission or attempted commission of, or solicitation or conspiracy to commit:
(i) Two (2) or more criminal gang offenses that are classified as felonies; or
(ii) Three (3) or more criminal gang offenses that are classified as misdemeanors; or
(iii) One (1) or more criminal gang offense that is classified as a felony and two
(2) or more criminal gang offenses that are classified as misdemeanors; and
(iv) The criminal gang offenses are committed on separate occasions; and
(v) The criminal gang offenses are committed within a five-year period.
(A) (i) As used in this subsection, "prior conviction" means a criminal gang offense for which a criminal gang member was convicted prior to the commission of the instant criminal gang offense by the defendant and includes convictions occurring prior to July 1, 1997.
(Top)(a) For the purpose of promoting the public safety, health, welfare, convenience, and enjoyment, to protect the public investment in public property, and to preserve and enhance the scenic beauty of property visible from publicly owned property, the general assembly hereby finds and declares that graffiti constitutes a public nuisance that may be abated in accordance with the provisions of this section, or by civil actions or suits brought in the circuit or chancery courts as provided by the general law. The authority provided in this section is permissive and not mandatory and may be exercised by a municipality in accordance with this section upon the adoption of an ordinance.
(b) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Advertising" means any letter, word, name, number, symbol, slogan, message, drawing, picture, writing, or other mark of any kind lawfully placed on property by an owner or tenant of the property, or an agent of such owner or tenant, for the purpose of promoting products or services or conveying information to the public;
(2) "Graffiti" means, without limitation, any letter, word, name, number, symbol, slogan, message, drawing, picture, writing, or other mark of any kind visible to the public that is drawn, painted, chiseled, scratched, or etched on a rock, tree, wall, bridge, fence, gate, building, or other structure; provided, this definition shall not include advertising or any other letter, word, name, number, symbol, slogan, message, drawing, picture, writing, or other mark of any kind lawfully placed on property by an owner of the property, a tenant of the property, by an authorized agent for such owner or tenant, or unless otherwise approved by the owner or tenant;
(3) "Municipality" includes incorporated cities and towns and metropolitan governments;
(4) "Publicly owned property" means the property owned or controlled by a federal, state, or local governmental entity, including, but not limited to, public parks, streets, roads, and sidewalks; and
(5) "Tenant" means any person shown by the records of the register of deed's office as a lessee of property, or any person lawfully in actual physical possession of property.
(c) Any municipality may use municipal funds to remove graffiti or other inscribed material from publicly owned real or personal property or privately owned real or personal property visible from publicly owned property and located within the municipality and to replace or repair publicly owned property or privately owned property visible from publicly owned property within that municipality that has been defaced with graffiti or other inscribed material.
(d) The municipality shall be authorized to remove the graffiti or other inscribed material, or, if the graffiti or other inscribed material cannot be removed cost-effectively, to repair or replace that portion of the property that was defaced, but not the painting, repair, or replacement of other parts of the property that were not defaced by graffiti, and may designate by ordinance an administrative officer or administrative body to perform the functions set forth in this section.
(e) (1) The removal, repair, or replacement may be performed, in the case of publicly owned real or personal property, only after securing the consent of the public entity having jurisdiction over the property.
(2) In the case of privately owned real or personal property visible from publicly owned property, the removal, repair, or replacement may be performed after the property owner and the tenant, if any, give their written consent to the municipality authorizing removal of the graffiti.
(f) The municipality may also use municipal funds for anti-graffiti education, operate a hotline for the purpose of receiving reports of unlawful application of graffiti on public or private property, and operate a program of financial reward, not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person who unlawfully applies graffiti to any public property or private property visible from the public right-of-way.
(g) Removal of graffiti by a municipality pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be performed at the sole expense of the municipality. In removing the graffiti, the municipality shall consult with the property owner or tenant and arrive at a method of removal that does not result in further damage or harm to the property. If the municipality and the property owner or tenant are unable to agree on a method of removal, the municipality shall not remove the graffiti. In removing the graffiti, the municipality shall restore the property as nearly as possible to the condition as it existed immediately prior to the graffiti being placed on the property. Nothing in this section shall be construed to impair or limit the power of the municipality to define and declare nuisances and to cause their removal or abatement under any procedure now provided by law for the abatement of any public nuisances.
(h) In removing, repairing, or replacing the real or personal property pursuant to this section, the municipality or county may use the services of persons ordered to perform those services by a general sessions, criminal, or juvenile court.
(i) The municipality and its officers, employees, agents, volunteers, and persons ordered to perform nuisance removal by a general sessions, criminal, or juvenile court shall not be liable for any damages or loss of property:
(1) Due to the removal of graffiti performed pursuant to the provisions of this section;
(2) Due to the repair or replacement of the property performed pursuant to the provisions of this section; or
(3) Due to the failure by the municipality to remove, repair, or replace property defaced by graffiti pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(b) It is an offense for any person to knowingly damage or deface real or personal property of the state, or a subdivision thereof, by the painting or other permanent application of graffiti directly onto such property.
(c) A violation of this section is a Class B misdemeanor. All such violations shall be punished by at least twenty-five (25) hours of community service work to be determined by the court.
(Top)(a) After a petition has been filed alleging delinquency based on conduct which is designated a crime or public offense under the laws, including local ordinances, of this state, the court, before hearing the petition on the merits, may transfer the child to the sheriff of the county to be held according to law and to be dealt with as an adult in the criminal court of competent jurisdiction. The disposition of the child shall be as if the child were an adult if:
(1) The child was sixteen (16) years or more of age at the time of the alleged conduct, or the child was less than sixteen (16) years of age if such child was charged with the offense of first degree murder, second degree murder, rape, aggravated rape, aggravated robbery, especially aggravated robbery, kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping or especially aggravated kidnapping or an attempt to commit any such offenses. The district attorney general may not seek, nor may any child transferred under the provisions of this section receive, a sentence of death for the offense for which the child was transferred;
(b) In making the determination required by subsection (a), the court shall consider, among other matters:
(6) Whether the child’s conduct would be a criminal gang offense, as defined in § 40-35-121, if committed by an adult.