Can a Tennessee school board member who is also a law enforcement officer bring a firearm to a school board meeting held on school grounds?

Subject

Opinion No. 10-111, Off-Duty Law Enforcement Officer Carrying Weapon to County School Board Meeting, November 3, 2010

Plain-English summary

Representative Ulysses Jones, Jr. asked whether a county school board member who works as a law enforcement officer could carry a weapon while attending a school board meeting on school property. The AG laid out a layered answer. The general "no weapons in schools" rule at Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309(b)(1) is broad and covers firearms, explosives, bowie knives, daggers, blackjacks, and similar items, on school grounds, buses, and any board-controlled property. But Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350 gives law enforcement officers a separate, broader right to carry firearms "at all times and in all places within Tennessee," whether on or off duty. That carve-out is itself qualified by subsection (c): when an off-duty officer brings a firearm onto school grounds during regular school hours, the officer must immediately notify the principal (or, if unavailable, an appropriate administrative staff member). The AG read these provisions together to say that the officer attending a school board meeting on school property could carry a firearm, subject to the notification rule if the meeting was during regular school hours. The carve-out covers firearms only, so other weapons listed in § 39-17-1309(b)(1) (a bowie knife, for instance) would still be prohibited.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2010. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Does the exception apply only to officers in the school's own county?

No. The AG specifically called out that Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350 lets a law enforcement officer carry firearms "in all places within Tennessee," not just inside the officer's home jurisdiction. The statute treats jurisdictional limits separately from the firearm-carry right.

Does the officer have to notify the principal if school is not in session?

No, only during "regular school hours." The AG read § 39-17-1350(c)(1) by its plain terms: the notification requirement attaches only during regular school hours. A board meeting held in the evening, for instance, would not trigger the duty to inform the principal. The AG cited State v. Adler, 92 S.W.3d 397 (Tenn. 2002), for the canon of construction that "the expression of one thing implies the exclusion of all things not mentioned."

What if the officer's employing agency forbids carrying off duty?

Then the agency's rule controls. The general off-duty firearm-carry authority in Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350(a) is itself subject to "lawful orders of the court or the written directives of the executive supervisor of the employing agency." An officer whose department prohibits off-duty firearm carry cannot use this opinion to override that policy.

What counted as a "law enforcement officer" for this opinion?

Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350(d) defines the term. It includes full-time state employees authorized to carry and arrest, full-time POST-certified police, vested inmate-relations coordinators and correctional officers in the Department of Correction, commissioned reserve deputy sheriffs (authorized in writing by the sheriff), and commissioned reserve or auxiliary police (authorized in writing by the chief of police).

Are there counties where this didn't apply?

Yes. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350(e) limited the general authorization for certain population-band counties. In 2010, those were Rutherford and Bedford Counties: in those two counties, the right to carry under this section applied only to members of a county or municipal law enforcement agency in that county.

Background and statutory framework

Tennessee's general school-weapons law, Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309(b)(1), makes it an offense for any person to possess or carry "any firearm, explosive, explosive weapon, bowie knife, hawk bill knife, ice pick, dagger, slingshot, leaded cane, switchblade knife, blackjack, knuckles or any other weapon of like kind" on school property, with limited exceptions for instructional or school-sanctioned ceremonial use.

The off-duty officer carve-out lives in Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350. Subsection (a) authorizes any law enforcement officer to carry firearms "at all times and in all places within Tennessee, on-duty or off-duty," except as limited by subsection (c), federal law, court orders, or the written directives of the executive supervisor of the employing agency. Subsection (c)(1) is the school-grounds qualifier: an off-duty officer carrying a firearm onto school grounds or inside a school building "during regular school hours" must immediately inform the principal (or appropriate administrative staff if the principal is unavailable). Subsection (d) supplies the definition of "law enforcement officer." Subsection (e) imposes the population-band restriction that left out Rutherford and Bedford Counties from the general authorization.

For purposes of Title 39, "firearm" is defined at Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-106(a)(11) as "any weapon designed, made or adapted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or any device readily convertible to that use." The AG flagged that this definition matters because § 39-17-1350's exception is firearm-specific. A school board member who is also an officer cannot bring a blackjack or a bowie knife under cover of § 39-17-1350; the school-weapons statute still applies to those.

Citations

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309(b)(1) (general school-grounds weapons prohibition)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350 (off-duty law enforcement firearm authority)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350(a) (statewide carry right)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350(c)(1) (school-grounds notification rule)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350(d) (definition of law enforcement officer)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350(e) (population-band exception)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-106(a)(11) (definition of firearm)
• State v. Adler, 92 S.W.3d 397 (Tenn. 2002)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2010/op10-111.pdf

Original opinion text

November 3, 2010
Opinion No. 10-111

Off-Duty Law Enforcement Officer Carrying Weapon to County School Board Meeting

QUESTION

May a county school board member who is employed as a law enforcement officer carry a weapon while attending a county school board meeting that is being held on school property?

OPINION

Unless otherwise prohibited by federal law, court order, or written directive of the employing agency, an off-duty law enforcement officer may carry a firearm at a county school board meeting held on school grounds. If the meeting is held on school grounds and during regular school hours, the officer must immediately inform the school principal that the officer is in possession of a firearm. However, the officer is not authorized to carry any weapon other than a firearm on school grounds.

ANALYSIS

Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309(b)(1) generally prohibits any person from possessing or carrying a weapon on school property. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350(a) (Supp. 2009) provides an exception for off-duty law enforcement officers. It states:

Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any law enforcement officer may carry firearms at all times and in all places within Tennessee, on-duty or off-duty, regardless of the officer's regular duty hours or assignments, except as provided by subsection (c), federal law, lawful orders of the court or the written directives of the executive supervisor of the employing agency.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350(c)(1) governs an off-duty law enforcement officer's authority to carry a firearm on school property. It states:

The authority conferred by this section shall not extend to a law enforcement officer: (1) Who is not engaged in the actual discharge of official duties as a law enforcement officer and carries a firearm onto school grounds or inside a school building during regular school hours unless the officer immediately informs the principal that the officer will be present on school grounds or inside the school building and in possession of a firearm. If the principal is unavailable, the notice may be given to an appropriate administrative staff person in the principal's office.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350 is plain and unambiguous. As a general rule, off-duty law enforcement officers are permitted to carry a firearm statewide, subject only to requirements of federal law, court orders, written directives of the head of the employing law enforcement agency, and the provisions governing the carrying of firearms that are set forth in Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350(c).

It should be noted that the authority of an off-duty law enforcement officer to carry a firearm statewide does not apply in two counties. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350(e) limits the general authorization of Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350 for counties within a specified population band (currently applicable to Rutherford County and Bedford County). The authority for law enforcement officers to carry firearms within those two counties is extended only to members of a county or municipal law enforcement agency in those counties.

Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1350(c), an off-duty law enforcement officer who carries a firearm onto school property during regular school hours must immediately inform the principal (or, if the principal is unavailable, an appropriate administrative staff person in the principal's office) of his presence. By its clear and unambiguous terms, the requirement to give notice applies during regular school hours only and has no effect at any other time.

Unless prohibited by federal law, court order, or the written directives of the employing agency, an off-duty law enforcement officer may carry a firearm to a school board meeting that is held on school property. If, however, that meeting is held during regular school hours, the officer must also give appropriate notice of his presence on school property. Furthermore, the officer is not authorized to carry any weapon other than a firearm on school grounds.

ROBERT E. COOPER, JR.
Attorney General and Reporter

GORDON W. SMITH
Associate Solicitor General

BENJAMIN A. WHITEHOUSE
Assistant Attorney General

Requested by:
The Honorable Ulysses Jones, Jr.
State Representative
98th Legislative District
35 Legislative Plaza
Nashville, TN 37243-0198