Source: https://www.fishwildlife.org/law-research-library/law-categories/endangered-species/endangered-species-enforcement-and-penalties-tennessee
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 02:26:09+00:00

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...(b) Any person who fails to procure or violates the terms of any permit issued under § 70-8-106(d) and (e) commits a Class A misdemeanor.
(c) Any officer employed and authorized by the executive director or any peace officer of the state or of any municipality or county within the state has the authority to conduct warrantless searches as provided by law, and to execute a warrant to search for and seize any equipment, business records, merchandise or wildlife taken, used, or possessed in connection with a violation of any section of this part. Any such officer or agent may, without a warrant, arrest any person who such officer or agent has probable cause to believe is violating, in the presence or view of the officer or agent, any such section, or any regulation or permit provided for by this part. An officer or agent who has made an arrest of a person in connection with any such violation may search such person or business records at the time of arrest and seize any wildlife, records, or property taken, or used, in connection with any such violation.
(d) Equipment, merchandise, wildlife, or records seized under subsection (c) shall be held by an officer or agent of the agency pending disposition of court proceedings, and upon conviction be forfeited to the state for destruction or disposition as the executive director may deem appropriate; provided, that prior to forfeiture, the executive director may direct the transfer of wildlife so seized to a qualified zoological, educational, or scientific institution for safekeeping, the costs of the transfer to be assessable to the defendant. The executive director is authorized to issue regulations to implement this subsection (d).
(e)(1) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), it is not an offense for any person to disturb the habitat of, alter, take, attempt to take, possess, or transport a black vulture, also known by the name Coragyps atratus, in this state.
(2) No state funds or personnel, or other state resources, may be used to enforce any prohibition against the disturbance of the habitat of, alteration, taking, attempting to take, possession, or transporting of a black vulture.
(3) Nothing in this subsection (e) prohibits the agency from using state funds or personnel, or other state resources, to assist landowners in acquiring federal depredation permits for black vultures.
Citation: T. C. A. § 70-8-108.
(a) None of the provisions of this part shall be construed to apply retroactively or to prohibit importation into the state of wildlife that may be lawfully imported into the United States or lawfully taken or removed from another state or to prohibit entry into the state or possession, transportation, exportation, processing, sale or offer for sale or shipment of any wildlife whose species or subspecies is deemed to be threatened with statewide extinction in this state but not in the state where originally taken, if the person engaging in the importation demonstrates by substantial evidence that such wildlife was lawfully taken or removed from such state; provided, that this subsection (a) shall not be construed to permit the possession, transportation, exportation, processing, sale or offer for sale or shipment within this state of wildlife on the United States’ List of Endangered Native Fish and Wildlife, compiled in 50 CFR, Part 17, Appendix D, as amended and accepted in accordance with § 70-8-105(c), except as permitted in § 70-8-106(d). All importations are subject to applicable state laws and regulations.
(b) If any provision of this part or the application of this part to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this part, and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby. This part shall not be construed as superseding any applicable federal statute.
Citation: T. C. A. § 70-8-109.
In conducting inspections to check compliance with this part pursuant to § 70-8-304(6), the commissioner has the right of access to areas where rare plants are growing in the state.
Citation: T. C. A. § 70-8-307.
(a) It is a violation of this part for any person other than the landowner, lessee, or other person entitled to possession, or the manager, in the case of publicly owned land, or a person with the written permission of the landowner or manager, to knowingly uproot, dig, take, remove, damage, destroy, possess, or otherwise disturb for any purpose, any endangered species. This subsection (a) does not apply to any employee or contractor of the federal government or of the state or of any political subdivision of the state engaged in any type of planning, construction, or maintenance work upon any proposed or existing federal, state, county, or other public road or highway, or highway right-of-way, while performing such work in the course of employment or contract work with the federal, state, or local government.
(b) It is a violation of this part for any nursery farmer to export from this state or to sell any endangered species without first obtaining a license from the commissioner as provided in § 70-8-304(3). The license shall allow any nursery farmer to purchase a maximum of ten (10) plants of any endangered species in each calendar year without being in violation of this part.
Citation: T. C. A. § 70-8-309.
(a) Any person who violates any of the provisions of this part or any regulation or rule promulgated under this part or who violates the terms of any license issued by the department under this part shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or be imprisoned for not more than six (6) months, or both.
(b) The court shall in all cases impose a fine of at least one hundred dollars ($100) for a person's first conviction under this part and a fine of at least five hundred dollars ($500) for all subsequent convictions of that person under this part.
(c) The court shall not impose a jail sentence for a person's first conviction under this part.
Citation: T. C. A. § 70-8-310.
(a) Any employee or agent of the department upon whom has been conferred law enforcement powers, including the power to serve and execute warrants and arrest offenders or issue citations throughout the state, or any police officer of the state or any police officer of any municipality or county of this state has the authority to enforce any of the provisions of § 70-8-309 or any regulation or rule promulgated pursuant to this part, or any license issued pursuant to this part.
(b) In addition to any other available remedy at law, the commissioner may apply to the chancery court of any county in which a violation of this part is occurring, or in which the commissioner has probable cause to believe a violation of this part is about to occur, and the court shall have jurisdiction to grant a temporary or permanent injunction restraining any person from violating any provision of this part without requiring the commissioner to post bond during the pendency of this action.
Citation: T. C. A. § 70-8-311.
The commissioner is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this part. All such rules and regulations shall be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, except as otherwise provided in this part. The commissioner of agriculture shall review all rules and regulations and shall concur before they become final.
Citation: T. C. A. § 70-8-313.
(a) No rule adopted under this part shall cause undue interference with normal agricultural and forestry practices.
(b) Nothing in this part shall be construed to permit a person to violate any provision of federal law concerning federally protected endangered or threatened species.
(c) Ginseng, Panax quinquefolius, is regulated under title 62, chapter 28 and is exempt from this part.
(d) This part shall not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred or proceedings that were begun before July 1, 1985.
Citation: T. C. A. § 70-8-314.
(a) Any violation of rules and regulations for the care and management of such properties as may be made under the authority of § 11-1-108 is a Class C misdemeanor.
(c) The commissioner, through the attorney general and reporter, may institute proceedings for assessment in the chancery court of Davidson County or in the chancery court of the county in which all or part of the violation occurred, in the name of the department. In any such action, the commissioner may also recover, in addition to the civil penalty assessed under subsections (b) and (d), for any damages to the state parks that were the result of the activity.
(4) Any economic benefit gained by the violator.
(e) Any civil penalties paid to the state pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the state park fund created by § 11-3-302.
(f) No provision of this section shall be construed to restrict the state from recovering civil damages to state property as provided by law.
Citation: T. C. A. § 11-1-109.
(a) Whoever violates, fails, neglects or refuses to obey this part or rule or regulation promulgated hereunder may be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) for each day of such violation.
(c) The commissioner, through the attorney general and reporter, may institute proceedings for assessment in the chancery court of Davidson County or in the chancery court of the county in which all or part of the violation occurred, in the name of the department.
Citation: T. C. A. § 11-14-115.

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