(a) As used in this section:

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 40-6-110

  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • 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.
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. 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
(1) “Cellular telephone” means a wireless telephone authorized by the federal communications commission to operate in the frequency bandwidth reserved for cellular radio telephones;
(2) “Cellular telephone data” means any data that is stored in a cellular telephone including telephone numbers, addresses, pictures, documents, texts, videos, music and any other information that is stored in a cellular telephone; and
(3) “Law enforcement officer” means any person authorized to effectuate an arrest who is employed by the state, or a county, municipality or metropolitan form of government.
(b) No law enforcement officer shall search, examine, extract or duplicate any cellular telephone data, even if incident to a lawful arrest, unless:

(1) The officer has obtained a search warrant issued pursuant to this part or Rule 41 of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure;
(2) The owner of the cellular telephone or the person in possession of the cellular telephone at the time it is seized gives the officer informed consent for the officer to search the cellular telephone; or
(3) Exigent circumstances exist at the time of the seizure requiring the officer to search the cellular telephone.
(c) No cellular telephone data that is obtained in violation of this section may be used in any court of law or administrative board as evidence, nor may other evidence that is derived from the illegally obtained data be used as evidence in any such proceeding.
(d) This section shall not apply to any cellular telephone that, at the time of its seizure or discovery, has been abandoned by the owner or person responsible for its abandonment.