Tennessee Code Annotated

Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-901 (2026)

Part definitions

✓ current as of May 2026

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The following definitions apply in this part, unless the context requires otherwise:

(1) "Actual or constructive knowledge" means that a person is deemed to have constructive knowledge of the contents of material who has knowledge of facts that would put a reasonable and prudent person on notice as to the suspect nature of the material;

(2) "Community" means the judicial district, as defined in § 16-2-506, in which a violation is alleged to have occurred;

(3) "Distribute" means to transfer possession of, whether with or without consideration;

(4) "Excess violence" means the depiction of acts of violence in such a graphic or bloody manner as to exceed common limits of custom and candor, or in such a manner that it is apparent that the predominant appeal of the material is portrayal of violence for violence's sake;

(5) "Final judgment" or "conviction" means all direct appeals have been exhausted including an application for appeal or for certiorari to the Tennessee or United States supreme court;

(6) "Harmful to minors" means that quality of any description or representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence or sadomasochistic abuse when the matter or performance:
- (A) Would be found by the average person applying contemporary community standards to appeal predominantly to the prurient, shameful or morbid interests of minors;
- (B) Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable for minors; and
- (C) Taken as whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific values for minors;

(7) "Matter" means any book, magazine, newspaper or other printed or written material or any picture, drawing, photograph, motion picture film, videocassette or other pictorial representation, or any statue, figure, device, theatrical production or electrical reproduction, or any other article, equipment, machine or material that is obscene as defined by this part;

(8) "Minor" means any person who has not reached eighteen (18) years of age and is not emancipated;

(9) "Nudity" means the showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area, or buttocks with less than a fully opaque covering or the showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any portion below the top of the nipple, or the depiction of covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state;

(10) "Obscene" means:
- (A) The average person applying contemporary community standards would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest;
- (B) The average person applying contemporary community standards would find that the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct; and
- (C) The work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value;

(11) "Patently offensive" means that which goes substantially beyond customary limits of candor in describing or representing such matters;

(12) "Prurient interest" means a shameful or morbid interest in sex;

(13) "Sadomasochistic abuse" means flagellation or torture or physical restraint by or upon a person for the purpose of sexual gratification of either person;

(14) "Sexual conduct" means:
- (A) Patently offensive representations or descriptions of ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated. A sexual act is simulated when it depicts explicit sexual activity that gives the appearance of ultimate sexual acts, anal, oral or genital. "Ultimate sexual acts" means sexual intercourse, anal or otherwise, fellatio, cunnilingus or sodomy; or
- (B) Patently offensive representations or descriptions of masturbation, excretory functions, and lewd exhibition of the genitals; and

(15) "Sexual excitement" means the condition of human male or female genitals when in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal.

Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1; 1990, ch. 1092, §§ 1-3.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 14 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1993–2024 · leading case: Davis-Kidd Booksellers, Inc. v. McWherter, 866 S.W.2d 520 (Tenn. 1993).

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Davis-Kidd Booksellers, Inc. v. McWherter, 866 S.W.2d 520 (Tenn. 1993). · cites it 41× “" Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-901 (4) (1991). We note that this exact same definition was held void for vagueness in Allied Artists Pictures Corp.”

State v. Pendergrass, 13 S.W.3d 389 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1999). · cites it 10× “Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-17-901 (1997). Thereafter, the section supplies the following definition.”

In Re Adoption of A.M.H., 215 S.W.3d 793 (Tenn. 2007). · cites it 2× “Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-17-901(5) (2003). Because the one-year limitation under subsection 36-1-113(q) does not begin to run until the entry of a final order, we conclude the language used in the statute does not indicate an intent to affect a parent’s ability to timely pursue a…”

Friends of George's, Inc. v. Steven Mulroy, 108 F.4th 431 (6th Cir. 2024). · cites it 6× “Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-901 (6) (2023). So the new law prevents children from viewing adult performances.”

H & R Block E. Tax Servs., Inc. v. State, Dep't of Com. & Ins., Div. of Ins., 267 S.W.3d 848 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2008). · cites it 2× “1993) (quoting Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-17-901(4) (1991)). The court specifically noted that this definition “ends with the circular phrase of ‘violence for violence’s sake.”

State v. Marshall, 859 S.W.2d 289 (Tenn. 1993). · cites it 2× “§§ 39-17-902(a) and § 39-17-901(10), respectively. PERIPHERAL ISSUES The only issue that is before the Court is whether the provisions of T.”

Lefevers v. State, 20 S.W.3d 707 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000). “§ 39-13-511(a)(1)(A)(i) (1999) ("Engages in sexual intercourse, masturbation, sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation, excretory functions or other ultimate sex acts”); Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-17-901(14)(A) (" ‘Ultimate sexual acts’ means sexual intercourse, anal or…”

Friends of Georges, Inc. v. Steven J. Mulroy, in his Off. & individual capacity (W.D. Tenn. 2023). · cites it 20× “found by the average person applying contemporary community standards to appeal predominantly to the prurient, shameful or morbid interests of minors; (B) Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable for minors;…”

Blount Pride, Inc v. Desmond (E.D. Tenn. 2023). · cites it 5× “] Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-901 (6)(A)-(C). Plaintiff Blount Pride organizes and hosts an annual Pride festival “in celebration of the LGBTQ+ community.”

State of Tennessee v. Eric Foster (Tenn. Crim. App. 2019). · cites it 3× “Code section 39-17-901(6) defines the term “harmful to minors”: “Harmful to minors” means that quality of any description or representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence or sadomasochistic abuse when the matter or performance:…”

State of Tennessee v. Cauley McCliton Cross (Tenn. Crim. App. 2011). · cites it 4× “] T.C.A. § 39-17-901(6) (2008). It is clear from the record that the content of the movie was testified to by several witnesses, viewed in its entirety by the jury, and entered as an exhibit in this case.”

State of Tennessee v. Christopher Hank Bohannon (Tenn. Crim. App. 2018). · cites it 2× “]” Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-901 (3); 7 Tenn. Prac.”

Show all 14 citing cases →

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-901(1) — 1 case

State v. Pendergrass, 13 S.W.3d 389 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1999). “Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-17-901 (1997). Thereafter, the section supplies the following definition.”

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-901(10) — 1 case

State v. Marshall, 859 S.W.2d 289 (Tenn. 1993). “§§ 39-17-902(a) and § 39-17-901(10), respectively. PERIPHERAL ISSUES The only issue that is before the Court is whether the provisions of T.”

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-901(14)(A) — 1 case

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-901(4) — 2 cases

Davis-Kidd Booksellers, Inc. v. McWherter, 866 S.W.2d 520 (Tenn. 1993). “" Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-901 (4) (1991). We note that this exact same definition was held void for vagueness in Allied Artists Pictures Corp.”

H & R Block E. Tax Servs., Inc. v. State, Dep't of Com. & Ins., Div. of Ins., 267 S.W.3d 848 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2008). “1993) (quoting Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-17-901(4) (1991)). The court specifically noted that this definition “ends with the circular phrase of ‘violence for violence’s sake.”

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-901(5) — 1 case

In Re Adoption of A.M.H., 215 S.W.3d 793 (Tenn. 2007). “Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-17-901(5) (2003). Because the one-year limitation under subsection 36-1-113(q) does not begin to run until the entry of a final order, we conclude the language used in the statute does not indicate an intent to affect a parent’s ability to timely pursue a…”

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-901(6) — 3 cases

State of Tennessee v. Eric Foster (Tenn. Crim. App. 2019). “Code section 39-17-901(6) defines the term “harmful to minors”: “Harmful to minors” means that quality of any description or representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence or sadomasochistic abuse when the matter or performance:…”

State of Tennessee v. Cauley McCliton Cross (Tenn. Crim. App. 2011). “] T.C.A. § 39-17-901(6) (2008). It is clear from the record that the content of the movie was testified to by several witnesses, viewed in its entirety by the jury, and entered as an exhibit in this case.”

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