(The Center Square) – State and local officials in Tennessee could face a Class E felony if they disclose the location and other information about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Senate Bill 1464 by Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson of Franklin passed 6-2 in the Senate State and Local Government Committee on Tuesday. The bill creates a felony charge that carries a sentence of one to six years in prison and a fine of up to $3,000 if a person is convicted.
“Under current law, there is no clear and uniform standard governing when this information must be withheld, which can result in inconsistent application or increased risk of physical harm to our brave men and women who are in law enforcement,” Johnson said.
Sen. Jeff Yarbro said he thinks legislators need to be careful when considering the law.
“We’ve seen problematic enforcement actions and you got to notice that we’re trying not to be transparent in the same places where we’ve had transparency, we’ve discovered abuses,” Yarbro said. “I am a firm defender of the protection and safety of law enforcement. But I’m deeply wary of something that, like our response to what we’ve seen, like public reporting of abuses, is to shield information.”
Johnson said things were different now because of social media.
“Now any individual out there with a phone can capture information, can broadcast it on social media and potentially endanger with personal identifying information home address, names, family members, where kids go to school and sadly there are folks out there because they disagree with certain policies, wish to endanger and potentially subject our brave men and women who are out there doing their jobs,” Johnson said.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton is the lead sponsor of the bill in his chamber. It is on the Public Services subcommittee calendar for Wednesday.
The bill is one of two under consideration by the General Assembly that could keep some law enforcement information from the public.
Johnson and House Majority Leader William Lambert of Portland introduced Senate Bill 1881/House Bill 1640 that would make all records of the proposed Tennessee Office of Homeland Security confidential and not subject to disclosure under the Tennessee Public Records Act. The bills were introduced in January but have not had a committee hearing, as other legislation codifying the Office of Homeland Security is still pending.
Senate Bill 1880/House Bill 1639 creates the Office of Homeland Security to counter or respond to acts of terrorism. The Senate and Government Operations Committee will hear the bill on Wednesday.
