(a) Every magistrate or judge of a court shall keep or cause to be kept a record of every traffic complaint, warrant, traffic citation or other legal form of traffic charge deposited with or presented to the court or the traffic violations bureau of its jurisdiction, and shall keep a record of every official action by the court or the traffic violations bureau of its jurisdiction in reference thereto, including, but not limited to, a record of every conviction, forfeiture of bail, judgment of acquittal and the amount of fine or forfeiture resulting from every traffic complaint, warrant, or citation deposited with or presented to the court or traffic violations bureau.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 55-10-306

  • Acquittal:
    1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
    2. A verdict of "not guilty."
     
  • Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Department: means the department of revenue. See Tennessee Code 55-1-111
  • Driver: means :
    (A) For purposes of a conventionally operated vehicle, every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Person: means a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, corporation, or an engaged ADS. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
  • 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
  • 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
  • Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances either singly or together while using any highway for purposes of travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Vehicle: means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b)

(1) Except as provided by § 55-50-409, within thirty (30) days after the conviction or forfeiture of bail of a person upon a charge of violating any provision of chapter 8, parts 1-5 of this chapter and § 55-12-139 or other law regulating the operation of vehicles on highways, every such magistrate or judge of the court or clerk of the court of record in which the conviction was had or bail was forfeited shall prepare and immediately forward to the department an abstract of the record of the court covering the case in which the person was so convicted or forfeited bail, which abstract must be certified by the person so required to prepare the same to be true and correct. Report need not be made of any conviction involving the illegal parking or standing of a vehicle.
(2) Upon receipt of the fee of sixty-five dollars ($65.00) as specified in § 55-12-129, the commissioner shall make a payment of ten dollars ($10.00) for the furnishing of a completed report of a conviction resulting in suspension or revocation, including forfeiture of bail not vacated or payment of a fine or penalty, for one (1) or more of the offenses of reckless driving, driving while intoxicated or drugged, drag racing, driving while unlicensed, driving on a revoked or suspended license, driving an unregistered vehicle, driving a vehicle with revoked registration, failing to stop after a traffic accident, or vehicular homicide.
(c) The abstract must be made on a form furnished by the commissioner and shall include the following information:

(1) Driver‘s first name, middle name or middle initial, last name, and residence address;
(2) Driver’s date of birth;
(3) Driver license number, class of license, and state of issuance;
(4) A statement as to whether or not the license is a commercial driver license;
(5) The license plate number, year, and state of issuance of the vehicle involved;
(6) A statement as to whether or not the offense was committed in a commercial motor vehicle;
(7) A statement as to whether or not the vehicle was transporting hazardous materials requiring placards;
(8) A statement as to whether or not the vehicle could transport sixteen (16) or more passengers;
(9) The date the offense occurred;
(10) The offense the driver was charged with;
(11) The date of the conviction;
(12) The violation of which the person was convicted;
(13) The plea, the judgment, or whether bail was forfeited;
(14) The number of the offense (e.g., 1st offense, 2nd offense);
(15) The blood alcohol level of the person, if convicted of a violation of § 39-13-106, § 39-13-213, § 55-10-401 or § 55-50-405;
(16) The amount of any fine or costs assessed for the violation;
(17) Whether a driver education or improvement course was completed and the date of completion of the course, if eligible under § 55-10-301;
(18) The name of the arresting agency;
(19) The name of the county and court in which the conviction occurred; and
(20) Whether or not there was in effect at the time of the violation an automobile liability policy or bond with respect to the operation of the motor vehicle involved.
(d) Every court of record shall also forward a like report to the department upon the conviction of any person of manslaughter or other felony in the commission of which a vehicle was used.
(e) The department shall keep all abstracts received under this section at its main office and the same shall be open to public inspection during reasonable business hours.
(f)

(1) The administrative office of the courts, in conjunction with the department of safety, shall, on an annual basis, provide information and training to the clerks of court concerning the importance and necessity of preparing and forwarding to the department of safety the abstract forms for the convictions required by this section.
(2) The training and information required by this subsection (f) is not required to take the same form every year; provided, that the information is conveyed in a manner designed to be viewed, understood and retained by the clerks. The information may be conveyed one year by a training session at the annual court clerks conference and another year may be conveyed by mailing, e-mail or telephone.
(3) Any such training shall also include the effect and consequences of any changes in the abstract reporting requirements that may result from changes in state and federal law.
(4) The training and information distribution required by this subsection (f) shall apply to all clerks of court having original jurisdiction over traffic offenses, including municipal court clerks.
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