AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8; Title 16 and Title 41, relative to public employee positions.
Summary
SB0924 creates additional prosecutorial and investigative staffing for criminal matters arising in or related to state correctional institutions. The bill directs the Department of Correction to provide funding for ten additional assistant district attorney general positions and ten additional criminal investigator positions, initially at specified compensation levels and later paid under existing salary statutes. These positions are intended to support specialized investigations and prosecutions of offenses occurring in prisons or otherwise connected to correctional facilities.
The bill also assigns those positions to judicial districts that contain a state correctional institution, naming ten districts that will each receive one prosecutor and one investigator. It states that the new positions are minimum authorized positions and does not prevent districts from employing additional prosecutors or investigators from state or non-state funding sources. The act takes effect July 1, 2025.
Impact
The bill amends Tennessee Code Annotated Titles 16 and 41 by creating new statutory authority for ten assistant district attorney general positions and ten criminal investigator positions tied to correctional-facility-related prosecutions. It also requires the Department of Correction to furnish and provide funding for those positions and grants designated personnel access to correctional premises, records, electronic devices, and other evidence, while obligating prison officials to cooperate with investigations and prosecutions. The measure affects the staffing and resource allocation of district attorneys general in the listed judicial districts and establishes a new baseline for prosecutorial capacity in prison-related cases.
Sentiment
The available voting history shows strong support in committee, with the Senate Judiciary Committee recommending passage by a 9-0 vote and no recorded opposition. No committee transcript is available, but the unanimous vote suggests the bill was viewed favorably as a public safety and correctional accountability measure. The absence of recorded dissent indicates broad agreement on the need for additional investigative and prosecutorial resources in state prisons.
Contention
No explicit contention appears in the provided materials, but the bill’s structure suggests potential issues around funding responsibility, interagency access to correctional records and facilities, and the scope of cooperation required from prison staff. Another possible point of discussion is the allocation of the new positions to specific judicial districts and whether those districts have the greatest need or whether other districts with correctional institutions should also be included. The bill also preserves local discretion to add more staff, which may have limited concern about restricting district attorneys’ existing authority.