DUI Offenses

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide specific details on how many people will be affected or what happens if other similar laws exhaust the current contractual agreement for software updates.

Driving Under the Influence License Suspension

This bill changes Tennessee's driving under the influence laws to require a one-year and six-month driver license suspension for people who refuse a test when suspected of DUI without any prior DUI conviction.

What This Bill Does

• Changes the law so that if someone refuses a breath or blood test while being pulled over for suspicion of drunk driving, their driver's license will be suspended for one year and six months if they have no previous DUI convictions.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who are pulled over and refuse a breath or blood test when suspected of drunk driving without any prior DUI convictions will face longer license suspensions.
• The Department of Safety may need to update its software system if other similar laws are passed in the future, potentially at an additional cost.

Terms To Know

Implied Consent

A legal principle that drivers agree to take a breath or blood test when asked by police during a DUI investigation.

Probable Cause

Reasonable grounds for believing, based on facts and circumstances, that a crime has been committed.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if the vendor's contract is exhausted by other similar laws.
• It is unclear how many people will be affected by this change in law.

Official Summary Text

Present law authorizes a law enforcement officer to request that the
operator of a motor vehicle submit to a test for the purpose of determining the alcohol or drug content of that operator's blood if there is probable cause to believe the operator is (i) driving while under the influence of any intoxicant, controlled subs
tance, controlled substance analogue, drug, or substance affecting the central nervous system; (ii) committing the offense of vehicular assault or aggravated vehicular assault; or (iii) committing the offense of vehicular homicide or aggravated vehicular
h
omicide. Refusal to submit to testing results in the suspension of the operator's driver license. If a person does not have a prior conviction for driving under the influence, such a suspension is for one year. The operator's driver license must be susp
ended for one year and six months if the person does not have a previous conviction for driving under the influence, but is suspected of having committed a misdemeanor violation for driving under the influence and at the time of the stop in which they ref
us
ed to submit to testing.

This bill provides that a refusal to submit to testing must result in the operator's driver license being suspended for one year and six months, if the operator does not have a prior conviction for driving under the influence, regardless of whether the o
perator is suspected of having committed a misdemeanor violation for driving under the influence.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 2640
By Roberts

HOUSE BILL 2574
By Kumar
HB2574
011388
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section
55-10-407, relative to driving under the influence
of an intoxicant.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 55-10-407, is amended by deleting
subdivision (a)(1) and substituting:
(1) One (1) year and six (6) months, if the person does not have a prior
conviction as defined in subsection (e);
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.