2023 Tennessee Code › Title 38 - PREVENTION AND DETECTION OF CRIME (§§ 38-1-101 — 38-14-101) › Chapter 3 - PUBLIC OFFICERS PREVENTING COMMISSION OF OFFENSES (§§ 38-3-101 — 38-3-123) › Section 38-3-122 - Fingerprinting of arrestees pursuant to incarceration or bond

(a)
(1)
It is the duty of every booking agency to take, or cause to be taken, a full set of fingerprints of each person arrested, whether by warrant or capias, for an offense that results in the person's incarceration in a jail facility or the person's posting of a bond to avoid incarceration; provided, that fingerprints are not required to be taken of an individual who is repeatedly arrested and incarcerated for a violation of §
39-17-310
, the offense of public intoxication; provided, further, that the booking or arresting officer has verified that the individual's fingerprints are on file from a previous arrest; and provided, further, that fingerprints are not required to be taken of individuals whose fingerprints have previously been stored in the electronic fingerprint imaging files of the law enforcement agency booking the individual, if the arresting or booking officer has verified that the individual's fingerprints are on file through the use of a single digit imaging reader. If the fingerprints are maintained manually, the booking agency shall send a full set of properly completed fingerprints to the Tennessee bureau of investigation. If fingerprints are transmitted to the Tennessee bureau of investigation electronically, the booking agency shall maintain with the arrest report one (1) hard copy of the fingerprints along with an acknowledgement from the Tennessee bureau of investigation that a copy of the fingerprints has been received and accepted. Upon receipt of the fingerprints, the Tennessee bureau of investigation shall retain the fingerprints as provided in §
38-6-103
, and shall send a set of the fingerprints to the federal bureau of investigation.
(2)
Regardless of whether fingerprints are found to be on file in a law enforcement agency, nothing in subdivision (a)(1) shall be construed as relieving the booking officer from:
(A)
Reproducing a copy of the fingerprints that are on file;
(B)
Updating the arrest data; and
(C)
Then forwarding a full set of fingerprints to the Tennessee bureau of investigation in compliance with this section.
(b)
A person who is issued a citation pursuant to §
40-7-118
or §
40-7-120
shall not, for purposes of this section, be considered to have been arrested and the agency issuing the citation shall not be required to take the fingerprints of such person.
(c)
The expense incurred by the Tennessee bureau of investigation by the provisions of §§
8-4-115
,
8-8-201(35)
, this section and §
38-8-111(g)
requiring law enforcement officials to take the fingerprints of each person arrested and send them to the bureau shall be funded by either an appropriation in the general appropriations act or by a fifteen dollar ($15.00) increase in the amount of each handgun carry permit application fee; provided, that if there is such an appropriation in the general appropriations act, then the handgun carry permit application fee shall not be increased. Any funds derived from the fifteen dollar ($15.00) increase in the amount of each handgun carry permit application fee shall not revert to the general fund on June 30 of any year but shall remain available for expenditure for its intended purpose as stated within this section.
Acts 1997 , ch. 502, §§ 3, 5; 1998, ch. 994, §§ 6, 8; 1999, ch. 338, § 1; 2000, ch. 711, §1; 2008 , ch. 701, §§ 7, 8.