Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-311 (2026)
Desecration of venerated object
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) A person commits an offense who intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly desecrates:
- (1) A place of worship or burial; or
- (2) A state or national flag.
- (b)
- (1) A violation of subdivision (a)(1) is a Class E felony.
- (2) A violation of subdivision (a)(2) is a Class A misdemeanor.
Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 242, s 1, eff. 7/1/2023.
Amended by 2017 Tenn. Acts, ch. 432, s 1, eff. 7/1/2017.
Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2
cases, 1998–2002 · leading case: State v. Janssen, 580 N.W.2d 260 (Wis. 1998).
State v. Janssen, 580 N.W.2d 260 (Wis. 1998). “1997); Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-311 (1997); Tex. Penal Code Ann.”
State of Tennessee v. John Wesley Johnson (Tenn. Crim. App. 2002). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-311 (1997). From the mostly nonsensical record, we are able to discern that the conviction resulted from a dispute regarding the ownership of cemetery property located in Gibson County.”
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treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.