Search & Seizure

Plain English Breakdown

The bill does not provide specific details about the training required for school security officers and administrators.

School Search Rules

This bill changes how searches are conducted on school property in Tennessee by requiring them to be done by trained school officials and limiting who can conduct these searches.

What This Bill Does

• Requires that any search of students, lockers, vehicles, or other items on school property must be conducted by a school resource officer acting as a school official.
• If the student is under 18 years old, the principal needs to notify their parents about the planned search and get their permission before it happens.
• Limits searches so they cannot violate the U.S. or Tennessee Constitution's rules on privacy and protection from unreasonable searches.

Who It Names or Affects

• Students in Tennessee schools
• School principals, resource officers, security officers, and other staff involved in conducting searches

Terms To Know

school resource officer

A police officer assigned to work at a school.

fourth amendment

Part of the U.S. Constitution that protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if parents do not give permission for a search.
• It is unclear how schools will ensure compliance with these new rules.
• There are no details on the training requirements for school security officers or administrators.

Official Summary Text

Present law authorizes a
school principal to order that vehicles parked on school property by students or visitors, containers, packages, lockers or other enclosures used for storage by students or visitors, and other areas accessible to students or visitors be searched in the pr
i
ncipal's presence or in the presence of other members of the principal's staff. This bill requires that any such search be conducted by a school resource officer who is acting, for the purpose of the search, as a school official.

Under present law, a
student may be subject to physical search because of the results of a locker search, or because of information received from a teacher, staff member, student, or other person if such action is reasonable to the principal. This bill requires that any such

search be conducted by a school resource officer who is acting, for the purpose of the search, as a school official. This bill also adds that, if a student is under 18 years of age, then the principal must notify the student's parent or legal guardian of

the need to conduct a physical search of the student and receive the consent of the student's parent or legal guardian to conduct the search.

This bill specifies that the present law authorization for a principal to order a search of property or a studen
t's person does not authorize a search that violates the federal or state constitution.

ON APRIL 7, 2025, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 290, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 makes the following revisions:



As of July 1, 2025, authorizes searches
conducted
as described in the bill

to also
be conducted by a
s
chool security officer or
a
school administrator who has completed training
for school principals, and c
larifies that a law enforcement officer
is not restricted
from conducting a lawful search on school property
.



As of July 1, 2025, revises the provision requiring, i
f a student is under
18
, the principal t
o
notify the student's parent or legal guardian of the need to conduct a physical search of the student and receive the consent of the student's parent or legal guardian to conduct the search
to, instead, require the principal to notify
the student's parent or legal guardian

within a reasonable time of the search
.



Upon this bill becoming a law, revises present law provisions relative to establishing a training program for school principals and providing notice of policies to parents and students to, instead:



Require the
department of education
, instead of a local education agency ("LEA") and local law enforcement agency,

to
establish and maintain an orientation and training program for LEAs to inform school administrators of the rights of students relative to searches.



Authorize an LEA and a local law enforcement agency to establish and maintain an orientation and training program designed to familiarize school administrators with
the
School Security Act of 1981

and with local policies and procedures for implementing and enforcing
such Act.



Require a
school administrator
to
complete the orientation and training developed by the department prior to conducting a search
as described in the bill.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 290
By Bailey

HOUSE BILL 764
By Williams

HB0764
001024
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
Chapter 6, relative to searches on school property.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-4204(a), is amended by adding
the following to the end of the subsection:
A search conducted pursuant to this subsection (a) may only be conducted by a
school resource officer who is acting, for the purpose of the search, as a school
official.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-4204, is amended by adding
the following as a new subsection:
(e) This section does not authorize a search that violates the fourth amendment
to the United States Constitution or the Constitution of Tennessee, Article I, § 7.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-4205(a), is amended by adding
the following to the end of the subsection:
A searched conducted pursuant to this subsection (a) may only be conducted by
a school resource officer who is acting, for the purpose of the search, as a school
official. If a student is under eighteen (18) years of age, then the principal must
notify the student's parent or legal guardian of the need to conduct a physical
search of the student and receive the consent of the student's parent or legal
guardian to conduct the search.
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-4205, is amended by adding
the following as a new subsection:

- 2 - 001024

(c) This section does not authorize a search that violates the fourth amendment
to the United States Constitution or the Constitution of Tennessee, Article I, § 7.
SECTION 5. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.