Safety, Dept. of

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide specific details about the content or format of the communication guidelines, leaving this aspect uncertain.

Driver Envelope Act for People with Disabilities and Mental Illness

This bill requires the Tennessee Department of Safety to create blue envelopes for drivers with developmental or intellectual disabilities and green envelopes for those with mental illnesses, containing essential documents and communication guidelines.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the department of safety to design a blue envelope for drivers with developmental or intellectual disabilities that includes their driver license, proof of insurance, vehicle registration, and contact card.
• Requires the department of safety to design a green envelope for drivers with mental illnesses that includes their driver license, proof of insurance, vehicle registration, and contact card.
• Specifies that both blue and green envelopes must have communication guidelines on the exterior to help law enforcement officers interact appropriately with these drivers.
• Allows people with developmental or intellectual disabilities or mental illness to request a blue or green envelope from driver services centers or county clerk's offices starting January 1, 2027.
• Requires the department of safety to make sure these envelopes are available in all driver services centers and county clerk's offices.

Who It Names or Affects

• Drivers with developmental or intellectual disabilities
• Drivers with mental illnesses
• Law enforcement officers

Terms To Know

Developmental disability

A condition that affects a person's physical, learning, language, or behavior development.

Intellectual disability

A condition that significantly limits intellectual and adaptive functioning in an individual.

Mental illness

A psychiatric disorder affecting a person's mood, thinking, or behavior.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much it will cost to implement.
• It is unclear what the communication guidelines on the envelopes will include.
• The effectiveness of these envelopes in improving interactions between drivers and law enforcement has not been proven yet.

Official Summary Text

This bill requires the
department of safety
to
develop and design for a driver with a developmental or intellectual disability a blue envelope that holds the driver's essential documents, including a driver license, proof of insurance, vehicle registration, and contact card.
Such
blue envelop
e
must include communication guidelines on the exterior that are tailored to assist a law enforcement officer in recognizing a person with a developmental or intellectual disability and adapting the officer's approach
when interacting with a driver with such disability.

This bill requires the
department of safety
to
develop and design for a driver with a mental illness a green envelope that holds the driver's essential documents, including a driver license, proof of insurance, vehicle registration, and contact card.
Such
green envelope

must include communication guidelines on the exterior that are tailored to assist a law enforcement officer in recognizing a person with a mental illness and adapting the officer's approach when interacting with a driver with a mental illn
ess.

ENVELOPE REQUEST

Beginning on January 1, 2027,
this bill authorizes
a person with a developmental or intellectual disability or a mental illness
to
request a blue or green envelope, as described
above
, from a driver services center or county clerk's office.

The department of safety
must
ensure such envelopes are made available in each driver services center and county clerk's office in this state.

RULEMAKING

This bill authorizes t
he department of safety

to promulgate rules to effectuate this
bill.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 2244
By Hurt

SENATE BILL 2608
By Powers
SB2608
011328
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 33;
Title 38; Title 52 and Title 55, relative to the
department of safety.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 55, Chapter 21, is amended by adding
the following as a new part:
55-21-401. Part definitions.
As used in this part:
(1) "Developmental disability" has the same meaning as in § 52-1-101;
(2) "Intellectual disability" has the same meaning as in § 52-1-101; and
(3) "Mental illness" means a psychiatric disorder.
55-21-402. Blue envelope development.
(a) The department of safety shall develop and design for a driver with a
developmental or intellectual disability a blue envelope that holds the driver's essential
documents, including a driver license, proof of insurance, vehicle registration, and
contact card.
(b) The blue envelope, as described in subsection (a), must include
communication guidelines on the exterior that are tailored to assist a law enforcement
officer in recognizing a person with a developmental or intellectual disability and
adapting the officer's approach when interacting with a driver with such disability.
55-21-403. Green envelope development.

- 2 - 011328

(a) The department of safety shall develop and design for a driver with a mental
illness a green envelope that holds the driver's essential documents, including a driver
license, proof of insurance, vehicle registration, and contact card.
(b) The green envelope, as described in subsection (a), must include
communication guidelines on the exterior that are tailored to assist a law enforcement
officer in recognizing a person with a mental illness and adapting the officer's approach
when interacting with a driver with a mental illness.
55-21-404. Envelope request.
(a) Beginning on January 1, 2027, a person with a developmental or intellectual
disability or a mental illness may request a blue or green envelope, as described in this
part, from a driver services center or county clerk's office.
(b) The department of safety shall ensure such envelopes are made available
pursuant to this section in each driver services center and county clerk's office in this
state.
55-21-405. Rules.
The department of safety is authorized to promulgate rules to effectuate this part.
The rules must be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform Administrative
Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5.
SECTION 2. The headings in this act are for reference purposes only and do not
constitute a part of the law enacted by this act. However, the Tennessee Code Commission is
requested to include the headings in any compilation or publication containing this act.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.