Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 40 > Chapter 39 - Sexual Offender Registration and Monitoring

• 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.
• Animal: means a companion animal, and a "non-livestock animal" as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 40-39-102
• Animal abuse offense: means :
  (A) Aggravated cruelty to animals, under §. See Tennessee Code 40-39-102
• animal abuser: means a person who has been convicted in this state of committing an animal abuse offense. See Tennessee Code 40-39-102
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Companion animal: means any dog, defined as any live dog of the species Canis familiaris, or cat, defined as any live cat of the species Felis catus. See Tennessee Code 40-39-102
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Conviction: means a judgment entered by a Tennessee court upon a plea of guilty, a plea of nolo contendere, or a finding of guilt by a jury or the court, notwithstanding any pending appeal or habeas corpus proceeding arising from the judgment. See Tennessee Code 40-39-102
• Conviction: includes , but is not limited to, a conviction by a federal court or military tribunal, including a court-martial conducted by the armed forces of the United States, and a conviction, whether upon a plea of guilty, a plea of nolo contendere or a finding of guilt by a jury or the court in any other state of the United States, other jurisdiction or other country. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the department of environment and conservation. See Tennessee Code 11-11-103
• Designated law enforcement agency: means any law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction over the primary or secondary residence, place of physical presence, place of employment, school or institution of higher education where the student is enrolled or, for offenders on supervised probation or parole, the department of correction or court ordered probation officer. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Director: means the director of the TBI. See Tennessee Code 40-39-102
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Employed or practices a vocation: means any full-time or part-time employment in the state, with or without compensation, or employment that involves counseling, coaching, teaching, supervising, volunteering or working with minors in any way, regardless of the period of employment, whether the employment is financially compensated, volunteered or performed for the purpose of any government or education benefit. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Institution of higher education: means a public or private:
  (A) Community college. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• 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.
• Lands: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Minor: means any person under eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Month: means a calendar month. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Offender: means sexual offender, violent sexual offender and violent juvenile sexual offender, unless otherwise designated. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Offender against children: means any sexual offender, violent sexual offender or violent juvenile sexual offender if the victim in one (1) or more of the offender's crimes was a child of twelve (12) years of age or less. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Parent: means any biological parent, adoptive parent or step-parent, and includes any legal or court-appointed guardian or custodian. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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.
• 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:
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Primary residence: means a place where the person abides, lodges, resides or establishes any other living accommodations in this state for five (5) consecutive days. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• 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.
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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
• Resident: means any person who abides, lodges, resides or establishes any other living accommodations in this state, including establishing a physical presence in this state. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Secondary residence: means a place where the person abides, lodges, resides or establishes any other living accommodations in this state for a period of fourteen (14) or more days in the aggregate during any calendar year and that is not the person's primary residence. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Serious offender: includes any person who is convicted in any other jurisdiction of any offense that would constitute a serious offense as defined in this part. See Tennessee Code 40-39-301
• Sexual offender: means a person who has been convicted in this state of committing a sexual offense or has another qualifying conviction. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Sexual offense: means :
  (A) The commission of any act that, on or after November 1, 1989, constitutes the criminal offense of:

  (i) Sexual battery, under §. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Sexual offense: means any of the crimes enumerated in §. See Tennessee Code 40-39-301
• 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
• Social media: means websites and other online means of communication that are usually used by large groups of people to share information, to develop social and professional contacts, and that customarily require an identifying password and user identification to participate. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• 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
• Student: means a person who is enrolled on a full-time or part-time basis in any public or private educational institution, including any secondary school, trade or professional institution or institution of higher learning. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• System: means the "Tennessee trails system" as established in this chapter and including all trails and trail segments, together with their rights-of-way, whether initially designated or later added by any of the procedures described in the chapter. See Tennessee Code 11-11-103
• TBI: means the Tennessee bureau of investigation. See Tennessee Code 40-39-102
• 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
• TDOC: means the Tennessee department of correction. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• TIES: means the Tennessee information enforcement system. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Violent juvenile sexual offender: means a person who is adjudicated delinquent in this state for any act that constitutes a violent juvenile sexual offense. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Violent juvenile sexual offense: means an adjudication of delinquency, for any act committed on or after July 1, 2011, that, if committed by an adult, constitutes the criminal offense of:
  (i) Aggravated rape, under §. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Violent sexual offender: means a person who has been convicted in this state of committing a violent sexual offense or has another qualifying conviction. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• Violent sexual offender: means any person who is convicted in the state, on or after July 1, 2004, of any sexual offense, as defined in subdivision (2) or §. See Tennessee Code 40-39-301
• Violent sexual offense: means the commission of any act that constitutes the criminal offense of:
  (A) Aggravated rape, under §. See Tennessee Code 40-39-202
• written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105