Attorney General Opinions
Relating to County Government

2001 Law Enforcement

There is no statutory prohibition against a city alderman serving as constable. The minimum age for a constable in Cannon County is twenty-one. Opinion No. 01-152 (September 25, 2001).

A private business may refuse access to the private areas of its business property to a private process server or a sheriff who is attempting to serve civil papers, but may not refuse access to public areas. Opinion No. 01-149 (September 24, 2001).

The sheriff or other civil process server can enter on private property to serve process by going to the dwelling house or usual place of abode, but the process server has no right to enter the dwelling or abode without consent. A person has no right to refuse legal service of process. Opinion No. 01-148 (September 24, 2001).

Under T.C.A. § 8-21-902 a sheriff or other officer who serves a first wage garnishment is entitled to collect a flat fee for summoning a garnishee as prescribed in T.C.A. § 8-21-901(a)(17) and (b)(17), and a fee/commission for collecting money on execution that is based on the amount collected on that garnishment as prescribed in T.C.A. § 8-21-901(a)(25) and (b)(25). The sheriff is not entitled to a commission on successively served garnishments because T.C.A. § 26-2-106(c) provides that the costs to be paid by the judgment debtor are limited to $3.00 and shall not include commissions for sheriffs on any garnishment after the original garnishment. Opinion No. 01-145 (September 11, 2001).

Under the Public Records Act, a local law enforcement agency may charge a reasonable fee for processing a criminal records check requested by a citizen. However, those statutes do not specifically authorize fees to be charged to the state or its political subdivisions. Therefore, a local law enforcement agency has no authority to charge a fee to a state agency for processing criminal background checks. Opinion No. 01-139 (September 4, 2001).

A television news program’s publication of names and photographs of those convicted of prostitution-related offenses would not violate either the state or federal constitution, nor any state or federal law. Opinion No. 01-127 (August 9, 2001).

Whether the POST commission will accept admission to or a diploma from a fully accredited state college or university to satisfy the requirement that a sheriff or police officer must have a high school diploma or its equivalent is a matter to be decided by the POST commission. Opinion No. 01-124 (August 7, 2001).

Under Tennessee statutes, a law enforcement officer who witnesses a felony has discretion not to arrest or charge the offending party. The only time an officer is obligated to make an arrest is when the officer has probable cause to believe a suspect has violated an order of protection. Opinion No. 01-119 (July 27, 2001).

A county which has provided and paid for medical services to an inmate in the county jail is not entitled to restitution under T.C.A. § 40-35-301 for those expenses as a condition of probation because the county is not a “victim” of the offense within the meaning of the statute. Opinion No. 01-118 (July 26, 2001).

It is the clear intent of T.C.A. § 39-17-420(h)(1) that county and city law enforcement agencies are to produce and process fingerprints that are compatible with the fingerprint imaging systems used by the TBI and FBI. Under that statute the county is not required to process fingerprints from persons arrested by a city if there is no agreement to do so. The city may either purchase its own equipment or enter into an agreement with another agency which has such equipment, but the ultimate responsibility for fingerprinting falls upon the municipality as the arresting agency. The city may be required under the agreement to pay a portion of the cost and maintenance of the fingerprinting equipment. Opinion No. 01-088 (May 24, 2001).

The method of appointing judicial commissioners set out in T.C.A. § 40-1-111 is constitutional. There is no legal infirmity to prevent them from issuing search warrants or arrest warrants in cases in which the defendant is charged with a class A or class B felony. Opinion No. 01-081 (May 18, 2001).

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department is authorized under the Metro charter to contract with third parties such as businesses, individuals or other governmental entities to provide law enforcement officers for the use and benefit of the third party. This opinion discusses the extent of Metro’s authority in this regard. The opinion does not apply to non-charter counties. Opinion No. 01-075 (May 8, 2001).

A statute requiring pawnbrokers to obtain a fingerprint from individuals pawning property would be constitutional. This opinion discusses the various possible challenges to the constitutionality of such a requirement, and concludes that it would be constitutionally permissible. Opinion No. 01-060 (April 17, 2001).

Judicial commissioners are authorized to make the judicial determination of probable cause required by the federal constitution as a prerequisite to an extended restraint of liberty (beyond 48 hours under normal circumstances) following a warrantless arrest. Opinion No. 01-038 (March 19, 2001).

Bounty hunters are not exempt from the law requiring a permit to carry a handgun. A bounty hunter probably can lawfully break into a suspect’s own home to arrest the suspect, but not into the home of another. Discusses the laws applicable to bounty hunters. Opinion No. 01-021 (February 8, 2001).