(a) As used in this section, “domestic abuse victim” means any person who falls within the following categories:

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class E felony1 to 6 yearsup to $3,000
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 39-13-111

  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Defendant: means a person accused of an offense under this title and includes any person who aids or abets the commission of such offense. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
  • Knowing: means that a person acts knowingly with respect to the conduct or to circumstances surrounding the conduct when the person is aware of the nature of the conduct or that the circumstances exist. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
  • Minor: means any person under eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
  • Obtain: includes , but is not limited to, the taking, carrying away or the sale, conveyance or transfer of title to or interest in or possession of property, and includes, but is not limited to, conduct known as larceny, larceny by trick, larceny by conversion, embezzlement, extortion or obtaining property by false pretenses. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
  • Person: includes the singular and the plural and means and includes any individual, firm, partnership, copartnership, association, corporation, governmental subdivision or agency, or other organization or other legal entity, or any agent or servant thereof. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
  • Plea agreement: An arrangement between the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the defendant in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for special considerations. Source:
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • Services: includes labor, skill, professional service, transportation, telephone, mail, gas, electricity, steam, water, cable television, entertainment subscription service or other public services, accommodations in hotels, restaurants or elsewhere, admissions to exhibitions, use of vehicles or other movable property, and any other activity or product considered in the ordinary course of business to be a service, regardless of whether it is listed in this subdivision (a)(38) or a specific statute exists covering the same or similar conduct. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Adults or minors who are current or former spouses;
(2) Adults or minors who live together or who have lived together;
(3) Adults or minors who are dating or who have dated or who have or had a sexual relationship, but does not include fraternization between two (2) individuals in a business or social context;
(4) Adults or minors related by blood or adoption;
(5) Adults or minors who are related or were formerly related by marriage; or
(6) Adult or minor children of a person in a relationship that is described in subdivisions (a)(1)-(5).
(b) A person commits domestic assault who commits an assault as defined in § 39-13-101 against a domestic abuse victim.
(c)

(1) A first conviction for domestic assault and a second or subsequent conviction for domestic assault committed in a manner prohibited by § 39-13-101(a)(2) and (a)(3) is punishable the same as assault under § 39-13-101, and additionally, as provided in subdivisions (c)(2) and (c)(3) and subsections (d) and (e) of this section.
(2) A second conviction for domestic assault committed in a manner prohibited by § 39-13-101(a)(1) is punishable by a fine of not less than three hundred fifty dollars ($350) nor more than three thousand five hundred dollars ($3,500), and by confinement in the county jail or workhouse for not less than thirty (30) consecutive days, nor more than eleven (11) months and twenty-nine (29) days.
(3) A third or subsequent conviction for domestic assault committed in a manner prohibited by § 39-13-101(a)(1) is punishable by a fine of not less than one thousand one hundred dollars ($1,100) nor more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), and by confinement in the county jail or workhouse for not less than ninety (90) consecutive days, nor more than eleven (11) months and twenty-nine (29) days; provided, however, that if the domestic assault victim’s relationship with the defendant falls within the categories defined in subdivision (a)(1) or (a)(3), or the victim is the minor child of any person in such categories, and the defendant has at least two (2) prior convictions for domestic assault committed in a manner prohibited by § 39-13-101(a)(1) prior to or at the time of committing the offense, the offense is a Class E felony, with a mandatory confinement of not less than ninety (90) consecutive days in the county jail or workhouse.
(4) For purposes of this section, a person who is convicted of a violation of § 39-13-111 committed in a manner prohibited by § 39-13-101(a)(1), shall not be subject to the enhanced penalties prescribed in this subsection (c), if ten (10) or more years have elapsed between the date of the present violation and the date of any immediately preceding violation of § 39-13-111, committed in a manner prohibited by § 39-13-101(a)(1), that resulted in a conviction for such offense.
(5) In addition to any other punishment that may be imposed for a violation of this section, if, as determined by the court, the defendant possesses the ability to pay a fine in an amount not in excess of two hundred twenty-five dollars ($225), then the court shall impose a fine at the level of the defendant’s ability to pay, but not in excess of two hundred twenty-five dollars ($225). The additional fine shall be paid to the clerk of the court imposing sentence, who shall transfer it to the state treasurer, who shall credit the fine to the general fund. All fines so credited to the general fund shall be subject to appropriation by the general assembly for the exclusive purpose of funding family violence shelters and shelter services. This appropriation shall be in addition to any amount appropriated pursuant to § 67-4-411.
(6) If a defendant pleads guilty or is found guilty of a domestic violence offense, as defined by this section or in § 40-14-109, the judge shall immediately order that the defendant:

(A) Terminate physical possession of all firearms in the defendant’s possession within forty-eight (48) hours of the conviction by any lawful means, such as transferring possession to a third party who is not prohibited from possessing firearms; and
(B)

(i) Complete an affidavit of firearms dispossession form and return it to the court in which the defendant was convicted when all firearms have been lawfully dispossessed as required by subdivision (c)(6)(A);
(ii) The defendant may obtain the affidavit of dispossession from the court or court clerk or the defendant may be directed to obtain a copy from the website of the administrative office of the courts.
(7) In addition to all other fines, fees, costs, and punishments now prescribed by law, the court shall assess each person convicted of domestic assault an electronic monitoring indigency fee of ten dollars ($10.00). All proceeds collected pursuant to this subdivision (c)(7) shall be transmitted to the treasurer for deposit in the electronic monitoring indigency fund, established in § 55-10-419.
(d) As part of a defendant’s alternative sentencing for a violation of this section, the sentencing judge may direct the defendant to complete a drug or alcohol treatment program or available counseling programs that address violence and control issues including, but not limited to, a batterer’s intervention program that has been certified by the domestic violence state coordinating council. Completion of a noncertified batterer’s intervention program shall only be ordered if no certified program is available in the sentencing county. No batterer’s intervention program, certified or noncertified, shall be deemed complete until the full term of the program is complete, and a judge may not require a defendant to attend less than the full term of a program as part of a plea agreement or otherwise. The defendant’s knowing failure to complete such an intervention program shall be considered a violation of the defendant’s alternative sentence program and the sentencing judge may revoke the defendant’s participation in such program and order execution of sentence.
(e) A person convicted of a violation under this section shall be required to serve at least the minimum sentence day for day. All persons sentenced under this section shall, in addition to service of at least the minimum sentence, be required to serve the difference between the time actually served and the maximum sentence on supervised probation.
(f) A person convicted of a violation of this section involving strangulation or attempted strangulation shall be punished by a mandatory minimum sentence of thirty (30) days incarceration, which includes participation in programming that is evidence-based for domestic violence.
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