This bill creates the Tennessee juvenile justice review commission ("commission") to be administratively attached to the Tennessee commission on children and youth, but for all purposes the commission is independent. To the extent that funds allow, the commission may hire additional staff or consultants to assist the commission in completing its duties.
COMPOSITION AND TERMS
The members of the commission include the following:
(1) The commissioner of children’s services or the commissioner’s designee, who will serve for as long as they hold the positions to which they are appointed;
(2) The commissioner of human services or the commissioner’s designee, who will serve for as long as they hold the positions to which they are appointed;
(3) The commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services or the commissioner’s designee, who will serve for as long as they hold the positions to which they are appointed;
(4) Two members of the house of representatives, to be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives, who will serve two-year terms and may be reappointed as long as they remain elected members of the general assembly;
(5) Two members of the senate, to be appointed by the speaker of the senate, who will serve two-year terms and may be reappointed as long as they remain elected members of the general assembly;
(6) Two juvenile court judges to be appointed by the governor, who will serve four-year terms with initial terms of three years;
(7) One district attorney general to be appointed by the district attorneys general conference, who will serve four-year terms with initial terms of three years;
(8) Two law enforcement officers with experience in dealing with juvenile justice youth to be appointed by the governor, who will serve four-year terms with initial terms of three years;
(9) One expert in child development to be appointed by the governor, who will serve four-year terms with initial terms of two years; and
(10) Two persons directly affiliated with entities in this state that receive prevention grant funds from this state to be appointed by the governor, who will serve four-year terms with initial terms of two years.
Following the initial terms, all terms thereafter are for four years. This bill requires the speakers of the respective houses to each appoint a co-chair from the members named to the commission. This bill generally prohibits a commission member appointed pursuant to (6)-(10) from serving more than two terms, including any partial terms, with exceptions described in this bill. If a vacancy occurs, then it must be filled by the appointing authority in the same manner as the original appointment and must be for the unexpired term only. However, if a subsequent appointment is not made, then the incumbent member shall serve until the member’s successor is appointed. This bill provides that a member who misses more than 50 percent of the scheduled meetings in a calendar year must be removed as a member of the commission and the presiding officer of the commission must promptly notify the appointing authority of any member who fails to satisfy the attendance requirement.
COMPENSATION
All members are voting members and receive no compensation for their participation. However, the members are allowed to be reimbursed for actual travel and other expenses incurred in attending each meeting and in performing any other duties provided for in this bill. Each legislative member is entitled to expenses as is statutorily required for each day the legislative member attends a meeting of the task force as long as no member receives additional legislative compensation when the general assembly is in session or if a member is being paid any other payments on the same dates for attendance on other state business. All reimbursement for expenses must be in accordance with comprehensive travel regulations promulgated by the commissioner of finance and administration and approved by the attorney general and reporter. The commission may provide reimbursement for actual expenses incurred in accordance with the state’s comprehensive travel regulations promulgated by the department of finance and administration and approved by the attorney general and reporter to witnesses that have been called to testify before the commission.
MEETINGS
The commission must meet as necessary to transact business as long as meetings are held at least quarterly and the first meeting is held no later than November 1, 2023. The commission must also meet at such time and place as determined by the co-chairs of the commission announced at least one month in advance of meetings with notice to each member. The written minutes must be kept of all meetings and 10 members must be present to form a quorum for the transaction of any business.
BYLAWS
This bill authorizes the commission to adopt bylaws to provide for the election of commission officers, establishment of committee meetings, and other matters related to commission functions.
REVIEW OF CASES AND INCIDENTS
This bill requires the commission to review an appropriate sampling of juvenile justice cases and any critical incidents involving juveniles in the custody of the department of children’s services for the purpose of providing the general assembly with findings of all stages of its investigation and adjudication as well as legislative recommendations.
No later than October 1, 2023, the department of children's services must provide the commission with a detailed table of profiled cases and critical incidents from the previous fiscal year; thereafter, the department must provide the table no later than October 1 annually. The table must include at a minimum the county where the case occurred, the delinquent offense, the age of the child, and the nature of the critical incident. The commission will then review the table of profiled cases and submit a list of the cases with a complete written summary of the procedural history of each case it wishes to review with at least the names and contact information of persons from whom the commission may seek additional information through their testimony to the department after the review, setting out specific cases from the table that the commission seeks to review. After reviewing the information, the commission must select the appropriate sampling from the information provided by the department as long as the sampling does not include more than 10 percent of the total number of cases profiled. The commission must also review the appropriate sampling and any critical incidents on a schedule determined by the commission as long as the commission submits its final report containing its recommendations and findings concerning the appropriate sampling and critical incidents each year to the general assembly.
COOPERATION FROM OTHER STATE ENTITIES.
It may also request and receive the cooperation of other state departments and agencies in carrying out its duties under this act as well as hold hearings, hear testimony, and conduct research and other appropriate activities. The department of children’s services, the district attorney general of each judicial district, the district public defender of each judicial district, the administrative office of the courts, any law enforcement agency, any juvenile court officer or investigator, any representative of the mental health disciplines involved in juvenile justice investigations, and any other state agency must, upon request by the commission:
(1) Submit to the commission, in accordance with the procedures and deadlines established by the commission, information and date concerning a second or subsequent incident of juvenile delinquency or unruly conduct involving the same juvenile or a critical incident;
(2) Cause the person most knowledgeable with the case being examined to testify regarding any cases concerning a second or subsequent incident of juvenile delinquency or unruly conduct involving the same juvenile or a critical incident; and
(3) Make recommendations and identify where gaps and deficiencies may exist in the various systems involved in juvenile justice.
CONFIDENTIALITY AND OPEN MEETINGS
This bill also provides that the commission may have access to information made confidential. Except for meetings conducted that are open to the public in a general manner that does not reveal information made confidential, investigatory meetings, where information made confidential pursuant to state and federal law is examined by the commission or information is being discussed that is relevant to a pending criminal action or juvenile court proceeding, are not subject to the general assembly’s declaration to make the formation of public policy and decisions public business and are therefore closed to the public. Any minutes or other information made confidential generated during the investigatory meetings must be sealed from public inspection. This bill also provides that each statutory member of the commission must sign a statement prepared by the commission indicating and affirming an understanding of and adherence to the confidentiality requirements, including the possible civil or criminal consequences of any violation or breach of the confidentiality requirements. All such confidential information must remain confidential after being acquired by the commission; is not subject to discovery or introduction into evidence in any criminal or civil proceedings; and may only be disclosed as necessary to carry out the purposes of this act. However, this bill does not prohibit a person from testifying in a civil or criminal action about matters within such person’s knowledge that was obtained independently from any commission meeting.
This bill further clarifies that any person acting in good faith in compliance with this bill is immune from civil and criminal liability arising from such action and this bill does not preclude investigations or reviews to the extent authorized by other laws. However, the bill provides that if during the course of the commission’s duties, the commission becomes aware of any violations of the criminal laws of this state by any person or agency, the co-chairs of the commission must provide such information to appropriate officials charged with investigating criminal matters. The commission must also adopt and implement a policy related to conflicts of interest to ensure that all members avoid any situation that creates an actual or perceived conflict of interest related to the work of the commission.
REPORT
This bill requires the commission to provide a report to the general assembly on the commission’s progress in fulfilling its duties by no later the January 1, 2024. The commission must also submit a report detailing its findings and recommendations by no later than January 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, to the general assembly. The report must be submitted to the governor, the speakers of both houses, the chair of the civil justice committee of the house of representatives, and the chair of the judiciary committee of the senate.
SUNSET REVIEW
This bill provides that the commission terminates June 30, 2025, in accordance with the Tennessee Governmental Entity Review Law.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 4-29-246(a), 4-29-246