Tennessee - Session 114
Title: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 24, Chapter 1, Part 2 and Title 40, Chapter 17, Part 1, relative to law enforcement investigatory privilege.
This bill creates a law enforcement investigatory privilege that protects all information governed by Rule 16 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure , which sets forth the limits of discovery, in an open criminal investigation or prosecution. A criminal inves tigation or prosecution is deemed closed when (i) the district attorney general chooses not to seek charges against a suspect and closes the investigation (ii) a criminal defendant is acquitted, or (iii) after conviction, the time to file a petition under present law has expired or such petition is resolved by the court. However, these provisions do not infringe upon the constitutional rights of a criminal defendant and do not alter or amend the procedure for subpoena by law enforcement as described in pr e sent law. This bill prohibits a subpoena from being issued or granted in a civil or criminal proceeding for information protected by the law enforcement investigatory privilege in an open criminal investigation or prosecution. T he district attorney gene ral may file a motion to quash or modify a subpoena in any matter where the state has an investigative or prosecutorial interest in information or materials that are protected by the law enforcement investigatory privilege and sought by a subpoena.
| Date | Event | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-01-30 | Introduced | Bill introduced |
| 2025-03-24 | Status | in_committee |
| 2025-03-24 | Latest Action | Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee |