In addition to the enhancement factors prescribed under current law, this bill authorizes a court to enhance the statutory penalty up to imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole for a conviction under the following circumstances:
(1) The conviction is for the commission of a violent crime and the defendant was an illegal alien at the time the offense was committed;
(2) The conviction involves the use or display of a deadly weapon and the defendant was an illegal alien at the time the offense was committed; or
(3) The conviction is for the commission of a violent crime and the offense occurred on the property of a school, which is defined for purposes of this bill as a public or private elementary school, middle school, high school, college of applied technology, postsecondary vocational or technical school, or two-year or four-year college or university.
This bill requires an arrest and subsequent conviction to which the enhancement factors would apply under (1) or (2) above to be reported to the Tennessee bureau of investigation's human trafficking advisory council to determine the correlations between arrests, convictions, and incidents of human trafficking in this state.
This bill applies to acts committed on or after July 1, 2024.
ON APRIL 18, 2024, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2770, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #1 makes the following changes:
(1) Revises the provision in the bill that defines a "school" to mean a public or private elementary school, middle school, high school, college of applied technology, postsecondary vocational or technical school, or two-year or four-year college or university by removing college of applied technology, postsecondary vocational or technical school, and two-year or four-year college or university from the definition;
(2) Revises the provision in authorizing a court to enhance the statutory penalty up to imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole for a conviction if the conviction is for the commission of a violent crime and the offense occurred on the property of a school by, instead, authorizing a court to enhance the statutory penalty up to imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole for a conviction if the conviction is for the commission of a violent crime committed by an adult and the offense occurred on the property of a school while students or other children were present;
(3) Revises the provision in the bill that requires an arrest and subsequent conviction to which the enhancement factors would apply under (1) or (2) in the bill summary to be reported to the Tennessee bureau of investigation's human trafficking advisory council to determine the correlations between arrests, convictions, and incidents of human trafficking in this state by, instead, requiring such arrest and subsequent convictions to be reported to the department of safety;
(4) Revises the present law providing that when making a determination on whether any person charged with a bailable offense may be ordered released pending trial on the person's personal recognizance or upon the execution of an unsecured appearance bond a magistrate may consider, among other things, any other factors indicating the defendant's ties to the community or bearing on the defendant's risk of willful failure to appear by clarifying that such factors include, but are not limited to, whether the defendant is lawfully present in this state; and
(5) Revises the present law requiring the magistrate to consider any other factors indicating the defendant's ties to the community or bearing on the risk of the defendant's willful failure to appear when determining the amount of bail necessary to reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant while at the same time protecting the safety of the public by clarifying that such factors include, but are not limited to, whether the defendant is lawfully present in this state.