(a) A governmental entity shall not intentionally prohibit or prevent law enforcement or fire and rescue services from accessing a specifically bounded area within the governmental entity’s jurisdiction during a public demonstration unless the services are replaced by like services provided by another governmental entity.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 29-20-210

  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Governmental entity: means any political subdivision of the state of Tennessee including, but not limited to, any municipality, metropolitan government, county, utility district, school district, nonprofit volunteer fire department receiving funds appropriated by a county legislative body or a legislative body of a municipality, human resource agency, community action agency or nonprofit corporation that administers the Head Start or Community Service Block Grant programs, public building authority, and development district created and existing pursuant to the constitution and laws of Tennessee, or any instrumentality of government created by any one (1) or more of the named local governmental entities or by an act of the general assembly. See Tennessee Code 29-20-102
  • Injury: means death, injury to a person, damage to or loss of property or any other injury that one may suffer to one's person, or estate, that would be actionable if inflicted by a private person or such person's agent. See Tennessee Code 29-20-102
  • 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.
  • 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
(b) A governmental entity violating subsection (a) may be held liable, subject to the limits set forth in this chapter, for damages, injury, or death proximately caused by the governmental entity intentionally prohibiting or preventing law enforcement or fire and rescue services from accessing a specifically bounded area within the governmental entity’s jurisdiction during a public demonstration.
(c) As used in this section, “governmental entity” means a mayor, chief executive officer, governing body, board, commission, committee, or department of a municipality, county, or other political subdivision of the state.
(d) This section does not apply to tactical decisions made by law enforcement or fire and rescue services personnel based on the risks to or safety of personnel or the public.
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