Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said the Metro Nashville Police Department and Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, as well as any other law enforcement agencies who fail to report data to the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference (TNDAGC) about illegal aliens arrested in the state, may face legal challenges for defying state law.
In May, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed HB2774/SB2158 into law, which, among other requirements, requires the TNDAGC to collect and analyze data from law enforcement agencies on the number of persons not lawfully present in the U.S. charged or convicted of a criminal offense in Tennessee during the previous year.
TNDAGC’s first report is due at the end of this month, per the law.
However, as Pappert pointed out in a piece published by The Star on Monday, some law enforcement agencies in the state including the Metro Nashville Police Department and Davidson County Sheriff’s Office have not provided data regarding the number of illegal aliens charged with a crime to the TNDAGC as required under the state law.
On Tuesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert said the Metro Nashville Police Department and Davidson County Sheriff’s Office’s refusal to comply with the reporting requirements under the state law may bring about legal challenges for the respective agencies.
Pappert also noted how the Tennessee General Assembly could decide to add additional penalties for agencies who refuse to comply under the law.
“I could see this becoming a lawsuit issue,” Pappert explained.
“I think that this is a general assembly that is willing to make these moves,” Pappert added.
While the Metro Nashville Police Department and Davidson County Sheriff’s Office has yet to provide such data to the TNDAGC for its report scheduled to be released by January 31, Pappert said a spokesman for the conference said that additional measures are being taken in an effort to verify disposition status of individuals in areas where data is not being reported.
“I think the law was written understanding that there was going to be some difficulty pulling this data out of places like Nashville and Davidson County. This is what the spokesman for the Tennessee District Attorney’s General Conference told me when I asked, ‘So what are you going to do if you don’t get this information from some law enforcement?’ They said our team is also using other means to verify disposition status. This includes but is not limited to working with local court clerks and utilizing publicly available court documents,” Papprt explained.
“So it appears when local law enforcement like Davidson County and Nashville refuse to comply with this law, it creates a lot of extra work for the conference, but it doesn’t stop the work,” Pappert added.
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
