(a) TBI registration forms shall be designed, printed and distributed by and at the expense of the TBI. These forms shall include instructions for compliance with this part and a statement of understanding and acknowledgment of those instructions to be signed by the offender. TBI registration forms shall be available from registering agencies, parole officers, probation officers and other public officers and employees assigned responsibility for the supervised release of convicted felons into the community.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 40-39-205

  • Offender: means sexual offender, violent sexual offender and violent juvenile sexual offender, unless otherwise designated. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • Probation officers: Screen applicants for pretrial release and monitor convicted offenders released under court supervision.
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Register: means the initial registration of an offender, or the re-registration of an offender after deletion or termination from the SOR. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
  • Registering agency: means a sheriff's office, municipal police department, metropolitan police department, campus law enforcement agency, the Tennessee department of correction, a private contractor with the Tennessee department of correction or the board. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
  • Report: means appearance before the proper designated law enforcement agency for any of the purposes set out in this part. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
  • sex: means a person's immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth and evidence of a person's biological sex. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • SOR: means the TBI's centralized record system of offender registration, verification and tracking information. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
  • 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
  • TBI: means the Tennessee bureau of investigation. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
  • TBI registration form: means the Tennessee sexual offender registration, verification and tracking form. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
  • TIES: means the Tennessee information enforcement system. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) It shall be the duty of the offender’s designated registering agency, its representatives and designees, including any district attorney general’s criminal investigator, to verify the accuracy and completeness of all information contained in the offender’s SOR.
(c) The officer or employee responsible for supervising an offender who has been released on probation, parole or any other alternative to incarceration shall:

(1) Promptly obtain the offender’s signed statement acknowledging that the named officer or employee has:

(A) Fully explained, and the offender understands, the registration, verification and tracking requirements and sanctions of this part and the current sex offender directives established by the department of correction;
(B) Provided the offender with a blank TBI registration form and assisted the offender in completing the form; and
(C) Obtained fingerprints, palm prints and photographs of the offender, and vehicles and vessels, as determined necessary by the agency;
(2) Immediately, but in no case to exceed twelve (12) hours from registration, enter all data received from the offender, as required by the TBI and § 40-39-203(i), into the TIES internet. The officer or employee shall, within three (3) days, send by United States postal service or by electronic means the signed and completed TBI registration form to TBI headquarters in Nashville. The photographs of the offender, vehicles and vessels, and the fingerprints should also be sent by United States postal service within three (3) days, if not electronically submitted to TBI headquarters in Nashville. The registering agency shall retain a duplicate copy of the TBI registration form as a part of the business records for that agency.
(d) Not more than forty-eight (48) hours prior to the release of an offender from incarceration, with or without supervision, the warden of the correctional facility or the warden’s designee, or sheriff of the jail or the sheriff’s designee, shall obtain the offender’s signed statement acknowledging that the official has fully explained, and the offender understands, the registration, verification and tracking requirements and sanctions of this part. If the offender is to be released with or without any type of supervision, the warden of the correctional facility or the warden’s designee, or sheriff of the jail or the sheriff’s designee, shall assist the offender in completing a TBI registration form. The warden or the warden’s designee, or the sheriff or the sheriff’s designee, shall also obtain fingerprints, palm prints and photographs of the offender, vehicles and vessels, as determined necessary by the agency. The official shall send by United States postal service the signed and completed TBI registration form to TBI headquarters in Nashville within three (3) days of the release of the offender. The photographs of the offender, vehicles and vessels, and the fingerprints should also be sent by United States postal service within three (3) days, if not electronically submitted to TBI headquarters in Nashville.
(e) If the offender is placed on unsupervised probation, the court shall fully explain to the offender, on the court record, the registration, verification and tracking requirements and sanctions of this part. The court shall then order the offender to report within forty-eight (48) hours, in person, to the appropriate registering agency to register as required by this part.
(f) Through press releases, public service announcements or through other appropriate public information activities, the TBI shall attempt to ensure that all offenders, including those who move into this state, are informed and periodically reminded of the registration, verification and tracking requirements and sanctions of this part.
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