(a) Notwithstanding any public law, private act, or municipal charter to the contrary, no person currently under employment with any municipality, county, or metropolitan form of government, shall be dismissed or penalized solely on the basis of nonresidence in such local government.
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 8-50-107
Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
Service: means service as a general employee, a teacher, a state police officer, a wildlife officer, a firefighter, a police officer, a state judge, a county judge, an attorney general, a commissioner or a county official which is paid for by an employer, and also includes service for which a former member of the general assembly is entitled to under former §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
(b) This section shall not apply to those counties having a metropolitan form of government.(c) This section shall not apply to any county with a population of not less than two hundred seventy-five thousand (275,000) nor more than four hundred thousand (400,000), according to the 1970 federal census or any subsequent federal census.(d)(1) Notwithstanding any law, private act, charter, resolution, or ordinance to the contrary, a local government shall not dismiss, discipline, fine, or penalize a first responder employed by a local government, or deny employment to a person applying to be a first responder, based on where the first responder or person applying to be a first responder resides.(2) As used in this subsection (d):
(A) “First responder” means paid, full-time law enforcement officers, including jailers and correctional officers, firefighters, emergency medical personnel, and dispatchers of law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical service departments. “First responder” does not mean the chief or head of the department; and(B)(i) “Local government” means a county, metropolitan government, municipality, or other political subdivision of this state;(ii) “Local government” does not include a county with a population of not less than three hundred thirty-six thousand four hundred (336,400) nor more than three hundred thirty-six thousand five hundred (336,500), according to the 2010 federal census or any subsequent federal census.(3) This subsection (d) does not affect a local agency’s policies:
(A) Regarding the use of a department vehicle while not on duty; or(B) That require responses by employees who, based upon their assignment, are required to respond to an emergency or call out within a specific time period.
