Law Enforcement

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not specify exact time frames for notifications, only that they must occur before finalizing a decision.

Law Enforcement Officer Rights Act

This bill requires prosecuting agencies in Tennessee to provide written notice and an opportunity for input before placing a law enforcement officer's name on a Brady list.

What This Bill Does

• Requires prosecuting agencies that maintain Brady lists to adopt policies detailing criteria, notification procedures, and reconsideration rights for officers.
• Gives officers the right to receive written notice and summary of reasons before their names are placed on Brady lists.
• Allows officers to provide input and request reconsideration before or after being placed on a Brady list.
• Sets time frames for notifying officers of decisions regarding placement on Brady lists.

Who It Names or Affects

• Law enforcement officers in Tennessee
• Prosecuting agencies that maintain Brady lists

Terms To Know

Brady list

A list compiled by a prosecuting agency containing the names of law enforcement officers who have issues affecting their credibility.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not create a private cause of action against prosecuting agencies or employees.
• It is unclear how this will affect existing Brady disclosure requirements under federal and state laws.

Official Summary Text

ON APRIL 6, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1254, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, require a prosecuting agency that maintains a Brady list to adopt a policy that includes all of the following:



The criteria used by the prosecuting agency to place an officer's name on a Brady list
.


The officer's right to receive written notice and a summary of the reasoning of the prosecuting agency before the prosecuting agency places the officer's name on a Brady list, and the officer's right to provide input to the prosecuting agency before the prosecuting agency makes a determination of whether the officer's name should be placed on a Brady list
.


The officer's right to make a request for reconsideration of the prosecuting agency's determination to include the officer's name on a Brady list and to submit supporting and corroborating documents and evidence in support of the officer's request for reconsideration
.


The applicable time frame and procedures for notifying the officer of the prosecuting agency's final decision on an officer's request for reconsideration.

This amendment requires the prosecuting agency to send the policy to all law enforcement agencies in the district for comment before the policy is adopted. As used in this amendment, a "Brady list" means a designation made, letter issued, or list compil
ed by a prosecuting agency containing the names and details of law enforcement officers who have sustained incidents of untruthfulness, criminal convictions, candor issues, or other issues hat place the officer's credibility into question.

This amendment requires a prosecuting agency to send written notice by mail or email to a law enforcement officer's last known employment address before a prosecuting agency makes a determination to place a law enforcement officer's name on a Brady list.
Such a written notice must include (i) a notice that the officer's name may be placed on a Brady list; (ii) a summary of the justifications for Brady list consideration; (iii) the officer's right
to provide input to the prosecuting agency prior to the pro
secuting agency's determination of whether the officer's name should be placed on a Brady list; and
(iv) the
prosecuting agency's procedural requirements for an officer to provide input to the prosecuting agency.

Once the prosecuting agency places an officer's name on a Brady list, then this amendment requires the prosecuting agency to send a written notice by mail or email to the officer's current or last known employment address. Upon receipt of the notice fro
m the prosecuting agency, the officer's employer must provide a written notice to the officer at the officer's last known address. Such a written notice must include (i) the
officer's right to make a request to reconsider the allegations and placement on a
Brady list;
(ii) the
prosecuting agency's procedural requirements for submitting a written request for reconsideration, including the method and time frame for submitting the request for reconsideration and any supporting and corroborating documents and evidence from any pert
inent sources;
(iii) a
summary of the justifications for inclusion of the officer's name on a Brady list; and
(iv) a
statement that, if the officer intends to make a request to reconsider placement on a Brady list, then the officer mus
t submit the written request for reconsideration to the prosecuting agency as soon as practicable after receiving the notice.

This amendment requires an officer's name to be removed from the Brady list if an officer submits a request for reconsideration pursuant to this amendment and the officer's request is approved by the prosecuting agency on the merits. However, if the off
icer's request for reconsideration is denied by the prosecuting agency or if the officer does not submit a request for reconsideration, then the officer's name must remain on the Brady list.

This amendment clarifies that it does not limit the duty of a prosecuting agency to produce Brady disclosure information in all cases as required by the United States Constitution, the Tennessee Constitution, and the Tennessee rules of criminal procedure
and rules of evidence, before, during, and after the initial placement of the law enforcement officer's name on a Brady list while the decision or a request for reconsideration is still under consideration. Further, the amendment does not limit or restr
ic
t a prosecuting agency's ability to remove a law
enforcement officer's name from a Brady list upon receipt of additional supporting and corroborating information or a change in factual circumstances at any time if the prosecuting agency determines that the law enforcement officer's name no longer requir
es placement on a Brady list.

This amendment provides that a Brady list or any other files, evidence, or records used to make a Brady list determination that are in the possession of a prosecuting agency are confidential and not subject to public records requests. However, this prov
ision does not prohibit the release of these records to the officer or the officer's legal counsel, or the release of such records to another law enforcement agency or prosecuting agency in another district.

This
amendment clarifies that it does not create a private cause of action against a prosecuting agency, an employee of a prosecuting agency, or the employer of the law enforcement officer.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1210
By Harshbarger

HOUSE BILL 1254
By Alexander

HB1254
003300
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 38,
Chapter 8, relative to law enforcement officers'
rights.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 38, Chapter 8, Part 3, is amended by
adding the following new section:
A state or local law enforcement officer must be given written notice by a state or
local governmental entity or official prior to being placed on a Brady list setting forth the
allegations for placement on the list, and must be given at least ten (10) business days
to respond to such allegations before placement on the list is finalized.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.