Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-420 (2026)

• (a)
  • (1) Except as provided in subdivision (a)(2) and in subsection (d), all fines and forfeitures of appearance bonds received because of a violation of any provision of this part and that are specifically set forth in this part, and the proceeds of goods seized and forfeited under § 53-11-451 and disposed of according to law, shall be accounted for in a special revenue fund of the jurisdiction that initiated the arrest, or in a special reserve fund of the university employing the campus police officers if the arrest was initiated by campus police officers as defined in § 49-7-118 or in the special revenue fund of the department of correction if the arrest was initiated by the internal affairs director or an internal affairs special agent of the department of correction. All financial activities related to funds received under this part shall be accounted for in this fund. Cash transactions related to undercover investigative operations of county or municipal drug enforcement programs shall be administered in compliance with procedures established by the comptroller of the treasury. Moneys in the special revenue fund may be used only for the following purposes:
    • (A) Local drug enforcement program;
    • (B) Local drug education program;
    • (C) Local drug treatment program; and
    • (D) Nonrecurring general law enforcement expenditures.
  • (2) The chief law enforcement officer and the mayor of a municipality, or other chief executive officer of a metropolitan government, shall recommend a budget for the special revenue fund, to be approved by the legislative body of the municipality according to law. The chief law enforcement officer of a county shall recommend a budget for the special revenue fund, to be approved by the legislative body of the county according to law. The board of regents of the state university and community college system and the board of trustees for the University of Tennessee each shall approve a budget for the special revenue fund for funds from seizures by campus police officers as defined in § 49-7-118 in the respective systems. The commissioner of correction shall approve a budget for the special revenue fund for funds from seizures by the internal affairs director or an internal affairs special agent of the department of correction. Expenditures from the special revenue fund are subject to the availability of funds and budgetary appropriations for the expenditure. Any purchase made with moneys from the fund shall be made in accordance with all existing purchasing laws applicable to the particular county or municipality or university or department of correction. All fines and forfeitures resulting from cases and actions of the Tennessee bureau of investigation shall be paid to the state treasurer, to be used only as appropriated by the general assembly. If goods are seized by a combination of the Tennessee bureau of investigation and county or municipal law enforcement personnel, the court ordering their disposal shall determine the allocation of proceeds upon disposition of the goods. In all other cases, fines and forfeitures and goods and their proceeds shall be disposed of as otherwise provided by law.
  • (3) In counties having a metropolitan form of government and a population in excess of five hundred thousand (500,000), according to the 1990 federal census or any subsequent federal census, all fines and forfeitures of appearance bonds received from the violation of this part and that are specifically set forth in this part shall be paid to the county trustee or city recorder of the jurisdiction which initiated the arrest and shall be used exclusively in the local drug enforcement program or local drug education program. All requests for disbursement from the funds maintained by the county trustee or city recorder shall be by written request signed by the appropriate chief law enforcement officer of the county or municipality and the district attorney general. All purchases made from proceeds derived from any forfeiture of any interest in real property or proceeds derived pursuant to this part that are for use in the drug enforcement program or drug education program of either a county or a municipality shall be made in accordance with existing purchasing statutes, including private acts, which establish purchasing provisions or requirements for the county or municipality. All fines and forfeitures resulting from cases and actions of the Tennessee bureau of investigation shall be paid to the state treasurer, to be used only as appropriated by the general assembly. Fines and forfeitures received as a result of the application of other provisions of the law shall be disposed of as otherwise provided.

• (b) In counties having a metropolitan form of government and a population in excess of five hundred thousand (500,000), according to the 1990 federal census or any subsequent federal census, the proceeds of goods seized and forfeited under § 53-11-451 and disposed of according to law shall inure to the benefit of the county or city whose law enforcement personnel seized the goods, if the goods were seized by county or city law enforcement personnel, for the use of the county or city drug enforcement program or drug education program, as appropriate. All purchases made from proceeds derived from any forfeiture of any interest in real property or proceeds derived pursuant to this part that are for use in the drug enforcement program or local drug education program of either a county or a municipality shall be made in accordance with existing purchasing statutes, including private acts, which establish purchasing provisions or requirements for such county or municipality. All fines and forfeitures resulting from cases and actions of the Tennessee bureau of investigation shall be paid to the state treasurer, to be used only as appropriated by the general assembly. If the goods are seized by a combination of the Tennessee bureau of investigation, county and city law enforcement personnel, the court ordering disposal of the goods shall determine the allocation of proceeds upon disposition of the goods. In all other cases, the goods and the proceeds from the goods shall be disposed of as otherwise provided by law.

• (c) All fines and forfeitures of appearance bonds received from the violation of this part and that are specifically set forth in this part, the proceeds of goods seized and forfeited under § 53-11-451 and disposed of according to law that arise from the activities of a judicial district drug task force shall be paid to an expendable trust fund maintained by the county mayor in a county designated by the district attorney general and shall be used exclusively in a drug enforcement or drug education program of the district as directed by the board of directors of the judicial district drug task force. All requests for disbursement from the expendable trust fund maintained by the county mayor for confidential purposes shall be by written request signed by the drug task force director and the district attorney general.

• (d) In addition to all other fines, fees, costs and punishments now prescribed by law, in counties having a population of not less than eighty-seven thousand nine hundred (87,900) nor more than eighty-eight thousand (88,000), or a population greater than eight hundred thousand (800,000), according to the 2000 federal census or any subsequent federal census, a drug testing fee of twenty dollars ($20.00) shall be assessed upon conviction of a violation of this part whenever a drug analysis is performed by a publicly funded forensic laboratory or other forensic laboratory maintained in or operated by those counties. This fee shall be collected by the clerks of the various courts of those counties and forwarded to the appropriate county trustees on a monthly basis and designated for the exclusive use of the publicly funded forensic laboratory of those counties.

• (e) The comptroller of the treasury and the department of finance and administration, in consultation with the Tennessee bureau of investigation, the Tennessee sheriffs' association and the Tennessee association of chiefs of police shall develop procedures and guidelines for handling cash transactions related to undercover investigative operations of county or municipal drug enforcement programs. The procedures and guidelines shall be applicable to the disbursement of proceeds from the drug enforcement program that are acquired on and after January 1, 1991, or an earlier date as may be adopted.

• (f) Notwithstanding subsection (a) or § 53-11-415 to the contrary, effective July 1, 1994, any county or municipality, or, in any county having a metropolitan form of government and a population in excess of five hundred thousand (500,000), according to the 1990 federal census or any subsequent federal census, any law enforcement agency that receives proceeds from fines, forfeitures, seizures or confiscations pursuant to this part or title 53, chapter 11, may set aside a sum from the proceeds to purchase supplies and other items for the operation and promotion of the DARE program, created by title 49, chapter 1, part 4, or any other drug abuse prevention program conducted in the school system or systems within the county or municipality or served by the law enforcement agency. The local school board shall approve the program before the program may become eligible to receive funds under this subsection (f). Supplies and items that may be purchased with the proceeds include, but are not limited to, workbooks, T-shirts, caps and medallions.

• (g)
  • (1) Except as provided in subdivision (g)(2), notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, in order to comply with state and federal fingerprinting requirements such as those in former 42 U.S.C. § 14071, effective July 1, 1997, twenty percent (20%) of the funds a sheriff or municipal police department receives pursuant to this section shall be set aside and earmarked for the purchase, installation, and maintenance of and line charges for an electronic fingerprint imaging system that is compatible with the federal bureau of investigation's integrated automated fingerprint identification system. Prior to the purchase of the equipment, the sheriff or municipal police department shall obtain certification from the Tennessee bureau of investigation that the equipment is compatible with the Tennessee bureau of investigation's and federal bureau of investigation's integrated automated fingerprint identification system. Once the electronic fingerprint imaging system has been purchased, a sheriff or municipal police department may continue to set aside up to twenty percent (20%) of the funds received pursuant to this section to pay for the maintenance of and line charges for the electronic fingerprint imaging system. Instead of purchasing the fingerprinting equipment, a local law enforcement agency may enter into an agreement with another law enforcement agency that possesses the equipment for the use of the equipment. The agreement may provide that the local law enforcement agency may use the fingerprinting equipment for identifying persons arrested by that agency in exchange for paying an agreed upon portion of the cost and maintenance of the fingerprinting equipment. If no agreement exists, it shall be the responsibility of the arresting officer to obtain fingerprints and answer for the failure to do so.
  • (2) This subsection (g) does not apply in any county having a metropolitan form of government and a population in excess of five hundred thousand (500,000), according to the 1990 federal census or any subsequent federal census.

• (h) In addition to all other fines, fees, costs and punishments now prescribed by law, including those imposed pursuant to subsection (d), a drug testing fee in the amount of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) shall be assessed upon a conviction of or upon the granting of pretrial diversion under § 40-15-105 or judicial diversion under § 40-35-313 for a violation of any part of the Tennessee Drug Control Act, compiled in this part and title 53, chapter 11, parts 3 and 4.

• (i)
  • (1) This fee shall be collected by the clerks of the various courts of the counties and forwarded to the state treasurer on a monthly basis for deposit in the state general fund, to be used only as appropriated by the general assembly.
  • (2) Any moneys in the TBI drug chemistry unit drug testing fund as of June 30, 2018, shall revert to the general fund on such date, to be used only as appropriated by the general assembly.

• (j) [Deleted by 2018 amendment.]

• (k) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any drug testing fee of twenty dollars ($20.00) and any other fees that were assessed and collected in any county of the ninth judicial district before such fees were repealed in 2007 shall be designated for use by the ninth judicial district drug task force.

Amended by 2022 Tenn. Acts, ch. 900, s 2, eff. 7/1/2022.

Amended by 2018 Tenn. Acts, ch. 1044, Secs.s 1, s 2 eff. 5/21/2018.

Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1; 1990, ch. 968, §§ 1, 2; 1994, ch. 607, § 1; 1994, ch. 923, § 1; 1995, ch. 305, § 102; 1997 , ch. 56, §§ 1-4, 7, 8; 1998, ch. 1020, § 1; 2003 , ch. 90, § 2; 2006, ch. 998, § 1; 2007 , ch. 106, § 6; 2007 , ch. 374, § 1; 2008 , ch. 1201, § 1; 2009 , ch. 511, § 1; 2010 , ch. 941, § 1; 2010 , ch. 1004, § 1; 2010 , ch. 1040, § 5; 2011 , ch. 78, § 1.