Can a registered sex offender go to their own child's school football game in Tennessee?

Subject

Opinion No. 14-37, Sex Offender's Attendance at a School Sporting Event, March 27, 2014

Plain-English summary

Senator Ferrell Haile asked whether a registered sex offender could attend a school function, like a sporting event, as the parent or legal guardian of an enrolled child. The AG said no, walking carefully through the statutory text.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-211(d)(1)(A) prohibits a sexual offender or violent sexual offender (defined in § 40-39-202) from "knowingly . . . [b]e upon or remain on the premises of any building or grounds of any public school, private or parochial school, licensed day care center, other child care facility, public park, playground, recreation center or public athletic field available for use by the general public in this state when the offender has reason to believe children under eighteen (18) years of age are present." That bar is categorical once the offender crosses onto the premises.

The statute provides exceptions, but the only one that could apply to a sporting event is § 40-39-211(d)(2)(B), which exempts an offender "attending a conference with school, day care, child care, park, playground or recreation center officials as a parent or legal guardian" of an enrolled child, "and has received written permission or a request from the school's principal or the facility's administrator." The AG used straightforward statutory construction (Walker v. Sunrise Pontiac-GMC Truck; Hawks v. City of Westmoreland: ordinary meaning, no forced reading) to conclude that "attending a conference with school officials" cannot be stretched to cover attending a sporting event. A football game or basketball game is not a "conference with school officials."

The opinion expressly overruled a prior 2009 AG opinion (Op. 09-142) on this question. The 2009 opinion had read an earlier version of § 40-39-211(d)(2)(B) to allow sex offenders who are parents to be on school grounds while attending scheduled school events where school officials were present. That version of the statute had referred to "an academic conference or other scheduled school event." In 2010, the General Assembly amended the statute (2010 Tenn. Pub. Acts, ch. 750, § 1) to remove the "other scheduled event" language and to add the principal's-written-permission requirement. The 2010 amendment was decisive: only a principal-authorized conference qualifies, not athletic events or general school functions.

Also clarified: the "no specific or legitimate reason for being there" qualifier appears only in § 40-39-211(d)(1)(B), which deals with sex offenders within 1,000 feet of school property lines. Once the offender steps onto the premises themselves, subdivision (d)(1)(A) applies with no such qualifier. Crossing the property line is itself the offense, subject only to the listed exceptions.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2014. 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

Can a registered sex offender attend their child's sporting event at the school?

Under the 2014 reading, no. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-211(d)(1)(A) bars the offender from being on the premises when children under 18 are present, with no exception for parental attendance at sporting events.

Is there any way for a registered sex offender to be at the school?

The only relevant exception under (d)(2)(B) is attending a scheduled conference with school officials as the parent or legal guardian of an enrolled child, with the principal's written permission or request. Other narrow exceptions appear in (d)(2)(A), (C), and (D), which the AG did not analyze because they were not pertinent to the sporting-event question.

What changed between the 2009 and 2014 AG opinions?

The 2010 statutory amendment. The pre-2010 version of (d)(2)(B) allowed attendance at "an academic conference or other scheduled school event." The legislature stripped "other scheduled school event" from the carve-out and added the principal-written-permission requirement. The narrower text drove a narrower reading.

What if the offender just wants to drop off or pick up their child?

The AG did not analyze that scenario. The statute does, in other subdivisions of (d)(2), address pick-up/drop-off and similar parental functions; readers should check (d)(2)(A), (C), and (D) and consult the current text of the statute.

Does the 1,000-foot rule work differently?

Yes. The 1,000-foot rule in § 40-39-211(d)(1)(B) prohibits a sex offender from "stand[ing], sit[ting] idly, or remain[ing]" within 1,000 feet of a school or athletic field's property line when children are present, but only if the offender has no "specific or legitimate reason for being there." That qualifier does not appear in (d)(1)(A), the on-premises rule. Crossing the property line to be on the premises is itself the offense, subject only to the listed exceptions.

Background and statutory framework

Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-211 sets the residence and movement restrictions for sex offenders. Subsection (d)(1) creates two zones: on-premises (d)(1)(A) and 1,000-foot perimeter (d)(1)(B). The on-premises rule is categorical; the perimeter rule has a "specific or legitimate reason" defense. Subsection (d)(2) provides narrow exceptions to both.

The 2010 amendment to (d)(2)(B) reflects a legislative tightening. Before 2010, parents could attend "other scheduled school events" with their children. After 2010, the only carve-out for school attendance is a conference, with principal permission. The AG followed the textual change and updated its earlier 2009 opinion.

The statutory-construction framework is standard Tennessee: legislative intent from the natural and ordinary meaning of the language, no forced reading, no extension. The AG applied that frame to read "conference" as the specific event-type the legislature picked, not a generic stand-in for any school activity.

Citations

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-202 (definitions of sexual offender and violent sexual offender)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-211(d)(1)(A) (on-premises restriction)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-211(d)(1)(B) (1,000-foot perimeter restriction)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-211(d)(2)(B) (parental-conference exception)
• 2010 Tenn. Pub. Acts, ch. 750, § 1 (2010 amendment narrowing exception)
• Walker v. Sunrise Pontiac-GMC Truck, Inc., 249 S.W.3d 301 (Tenn. 2008) (Tennessee Supreme Court; statutory construction)
• Hawks v. City of Westmoreland, 960 S.W.2d 10 (Tenn. 1997) (Tennessee Supreme Court)
• Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. 09-142 (July 31, 2009) (superseded by 2010 amendment)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2014/op14-037.pdf

Original opinion text

STATE OF TENNESSEE
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
March 27, 2014
Opinion No. 14-37
Sex Offender's Attendance at a School Sporting Event

QUESTION

May a sex offender attend a school function such as a school sporting event as the parent or legal guardian of a child who is enrolled in the school?

OPINION

No. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-211(d) prohibits a sex offender from being or remaining on the premises of any public or private school or public athletic field whenever the offender has reason to believe that children under the age of 18 are present. The only pertinent exception is for a parent or guardian's attending a conference with school officials.

ANALYSIS

Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-211(d)(1):

No sexual offender, as defined in § 40-39-202, or violent sexual offender, as defined in § 40-39-202, shall knowingly:

(A) Be upon or remain on the premises of any building or grounds of any public school, private or parochial school, licensed day care center, other child care facility, public park, playground, recreation center or public athletic field available for use by the general public in this state when the offender has reason to believe children under eighteen (18) years of age are present.

Subdivision (d)(1) of § 40-39-211 shall not apply when the offender:

Is attending a conference with school, day care, child care, park, playground or recreation center officials as a parent or legal guardian of a child who is enrolled in the school, day care center, other child care center or of a child who is a participant at the park, playground or recreation center and has received written permission or a request from the school's principal or the facility's administrator.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-211(d)(2)(B).

The primary objective of statutory construction is "to ascertain and give effect to the intent and purpose of the legislature." Walker v. Sunrise Pontiac-GMC Truck, Inc., 249 S.W.3d 301, 309 (Tenn. 2008). "Legislative intent is to be ascertained whenever possible from the natural and ordinary meaning of the language used, without forced or subtle construction that would limit or extend the meaning of the language." Hawks v. City of Westmoreland, 960 S.W.2d 10, 16 (Tenn. 1997).

The statute allows an exception for a parent's attending a conference with school officials with the written permission or at the request of the school's principal. "[A]ttending a conference with school . . . officials" cannot be construed to mean attending a school sporting event or other such school function. Therefore, under this subdivision of § 40-39-211(d), unless a sex offender is attending a conference with school officials at his or her child's school, he or she may not attend a school event.

Other exemptions, not pertinent here, are set forth in Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-211(d)(2)(A), (C)-(D).

The requirement that a sex offender have no "specific or legitimate reason for being there" in order to violate the statute applies only in Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-211(d)(1)(B), which provides that no sex offender shall knowingly "[s]tand, sit idly . . . , or remain" within 1,000 feet of the property line of any public or private school or public athletic field when children under 18 are present. Once a sex offender passes over the property line to be "on the premises," the provisions of subdivision (d)(1)(A) apply.

In Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. 09-142 (July 31, 2009), this Office opined that the exception in Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-211(d)(2)(B) allowed sex offenders who are parents to be on school grounds while attending scheduled school events where school officials are present. But that opinion was based on a prior version of subdivision (d)(2)(B) that permitted attendance at "an academic conference or other scheduled school event." Op. 09-142, at 2. In 2010, the legislature amended the statute to remove the references to "other scheduled event" from this subdivision and to add the requirement that any attendance at a conference with school officials be with the written permission or at the request of the school's principal. 2010 Tenn. Pub. Acts, ch. 750, § 1.

ROBERT E. COOPER, JR.
Attorney General and Reporter

JOSEPH F. WHALEN
Acting Solicitor General

BENJAMIN A. BALL
Senior Counsel

Requested by:
The Honorable Ferrell Haile
State Senator
Suite 10-A, Legislative Plaza
Nashville, Tennessee 37243