Can a Tennessee officer make a driver sign a blank screen on a tablet when issuing an electronic traffic citation, and can the officer arrest the driver who refuses?

Plain-English summary

When a Tennessee officer issues an electronic traffic citation, the driver must sign to accept the citation and agree to appear in court. Some departments had been having drivers sign on a tablet screen that, by itself, was effectively blank, with the citation content displayed only on the officer's separate device. A state representative asked whether that was legal, what happens if the driver refuses, and whether the driver still gets a paper copy.

The AG's answers:

1. Sign-on-a-blank-screen is not allowed. The driver must be signing the citation, meaning a document containing the statutorily required information about the alleged violation and the agreement to appear. A truly blank screen disconnected from the citation does not count. If electronic pagination simply results in the signature line landing on a "blank-looking" last page of the citation that the driver has had a chance to read, that's acceptable; the driver is still signing the citation, just on its last page.

2. Refusal to sign authorizes arrest, but only if there is an actual citation to sign. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-207(h)(1) cross-references § 40-7-118(c)(6), which says no cite-and-release applies when the person "refuses to sign the citation." If the officer is presenting a complying electronic citation and the driver refuses to sign, the officer may arrest. If the officer is presenting only a blank screen with no citation, refusing to sign that does not authorize arrest because there is nothing properly to sign.

3. A paper copy is mandatory. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-207(c)(3) requires the cited person to "be provided with a paper copy of the traffic citation." Skipping that step is a statutory violation.

The opinion also drew on due-process principles. Under Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust, 339 U.S. 306 (1950), notice must be of "such nature as reasonable to convey the required information." A signature ritual that does not actually inform the signer of what they are agreeing to is not adequate notice.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2016. 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.

Background and statutory framework

Tennessee's "cite and release" structure starts with the proposition that, for many traffic misdemeanors, an officer issues a citation instead of physically arresting the driver. The Electronic Traffic Citation Act in Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-207 specifically authorizes that citation to be prepared on an electronic device.

Subsection (a) defines "traffic citation" as a written citation prepared by the officer on paper or an electronic data device. Subsections (b)(1) through (3) describe when a citation is issued in lieu of arrest. Subsection (c)(1) requires that the citation demand the cited person appear in court at a stated time, state the name and address of the cited person, identify the issuing officer, identify the offense, and notify the cited person that failure to appear is punishable as contempt. The cited person "shall signify the acceptance of the traffic citation and the agreement to appear in court as directed by signing the citation."

Subsection (c)(3) imposes the paper-copy requirement. Subsection (i)(1)-(13) lists thirteen items of information that must appear on the citation.

Subsection (h)(1) provides an arrest path. An officer is not required to issue a citation in lieu of arrest "in any of the circumstances specified in § 40-7-118(c)." Section 40-7-118(c)(6) lists refusal to sign as one of those circumstances. So refusing to sign a citation removes the cite-and-release protection.

The AG's textual move on Question 1 was to focus on the noun "citation." The driver must sign the citation. A blank screen is not a citation; it lacks the statutory elements. Asking a driver to sign a blank screen and treating it as acceptance of a citation creates two problems. First, the statute is not satisfied because there is no actual citation being signed. Second, due process is not satisfied because the cited person has not received fair notice of the alleged offense and the consequences of failure to appear.

The opinion gave a useful safe harbor for electronic-citation software vendors: if the citation appears in full on the device and the pagination simply puts the signature line on a final page that happens to look mostly empty, that's fine. The cited person has read the citation; the signature is on the citation. The bad practice is presenting the citation on the officer's screen, then handing the driver a different screen with nothing but a signature field, with no opportunity to read what they are signing.

For Question 2, the AG noted that physical arrest authority under § 55-10-207(h)(1) only exists when the underlying refusal is a refusal to sign a citation. Refusing to sign a non-citation blank screen does not satisfy § 40-7-118(c)(6) because the driver is not refusing to sign a citation. The officer's remedy in that situation is to fix the procedure (present a complying citation) and then ask for a signature.

For Question 3, the paper-copy requirement is unambiguous. "Shall be provided" is mandatory. A department that does not provide a paper copy is violating § 55-10-207(c)(3) regardless of how convenient the all-digital workflow might be.

Common questions

Q: I was asked to sign a tablet but I couldn't see the citation on it. Did the officer follow the law? A: If you could not read the citation before signing, the procedure did not satisfy § 55-10-207(c)(1) or due process. Defense attorneys should look at the specific facts of how the device was presented to you.

Q: Does this opinion mean electronic citations are invalid? A: No. The statute authorizes electronic citations. The opinion just says the cited person has to be signing a real citation, not a blank acceptance screen.

Q: What if I sign the screen but later say I didn't see the citation? A: That is a factual question that may matter in court. If you can establish that the citation was not displayed before you signed, you have a statutory and due-process argument. The body-camera and dashcam footage will often be decisive on this kind of question.

Q: I refused to sign and the officer arrested me. Was that legal? A: If the officer was offering you a complete electronic citation and you refused to sign it, the arrest is authorized by § 55-10-207(h)(1) via § 40-7-118(c)(6). If the officer was only offering a blank screen, the refusal-to-sign trigger never properly occurred, and the arrest is on shakier ground.

Q: The officer never gave me a paper copy. Does that void the citation? A: It is a statutory violation, but the consequences depend on context. Most courts treat the paper-copy requirement as a duty owed to the cited person; failure to provide a copy may give rise to a defense, especially if the citation contains additional information the cited person was not told. Consult a Tennessee traffic attorney.

Citations and references

Statutes (as cited in the opinion):

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-207(a), (b)(1)-(3), (c)(1), (c)(3), (h)(1), (i)(1)-(13)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-7-118(c)(6)

Cases:

• Mullane v. Cent. Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306 (1950)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2016/op16-026.pdf

Original opinion text

STATE OF TENNESSEE
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
July 22, 2016
Opinion No. 16-26
Requirement that person cited sign an electronic traffic citation issued in lieu of arrest

Question 1
When issuing an electronic traffic citation pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-207, may the officer require the person cited to signify acceptance of the citation and the agreement to appear in court by signing a blank screen on the officer's electronic device, or would doing so violate Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-207, § 40-7-118(c), other Tennessee law, or the person's constitutional rights?

Opinion 1
Tennessee Code Annotated § 55-10-207 requires the person cited to sign the citation, whether the citation is written on paper or on an electronic device. But a stand-alone blank screen is not a citation, and the officer may not require the person cited to sign a blank screen that is not part of a citation, just as the officer may not require a person cited to sign a blank piece of paper that is not part of a paper citation. If the blank screen is clearly part of a statutorily compliant electronic citation, e.g., is just the last page of the citation and the pagination happens to be such that no other writing appears on that last page, the officer may require the person cited to sign on that screen because the officer would be requiring the person to sign the citation.

Question 2
If a person receiving an electronic traffic citation pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10- 207 refuses to sign the citation because his signature would appear on a blank screen on the officer's electronic data device, may the officer make a physical arrest based on that refusal?

Opinion 2
Yes, but only if the person cited refuses to sign a citation. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 55- 10-207(h)(1) an officer has authority to physically arrest a person who refuses to sign an electronic traffic citation. The person is not required to sign a blank screen that is not part of a written citation, and refusal to do so would not authorize the officer to make a physical arrest.

Question 3
Must an officer who has issued an electronic traffic citation pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann.
§ 55-10-207 provide the cited person with a paper copy of the citation?

Opinion 3
Yes.

ANALYSIS

When a person is arrested for certain specified traffic offenses punishable as misdemeanors the arresting officer shall, or in some instances may, issue a traffic citation to the person in lieu of arrest. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-207(b)(1), (2), and (3). "Traffic citation" is defined as a written citation prepared by a law enforcement officer either on paper or on an electronic data device with the intent that it shall be filed, electronically or otherwise, with a court having jurisdiction over the alleged offense. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-207(a). Tennessee Code Annotated § 55-10-207(i)(1) through (13) specifies all the information that must appear, at a minimum, on the citation.

In addition to the detailed information about the alleged offense, the traffic citation, whether written on paper or on an electronic device, must contain a demand that the person cited appear in court and notice of the consequences of not appearing in court:

The traffic citation shall demand the person cited to appear in court at a stated time and it shall state the name and address of the person cited, the name of the issuing officer, and the offense charged. Unless the person cited requests an earlier date, the time specified on the traffic citation to appear shall be as fixed by the arresting officer. The traffic citation shall give notice to the person cited that failure to appear as ordered is punishable as contempt of court.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-207(c)(1).

Whether the traffic citation is written or electronic, the person must sign the citation. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-207(c)(1). The person "shall signify the acceptance of the traffic citation and the agreement to appear in court as directed by signing the citation." Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10- 207(c)(1) (emphasis added).

The person issued an electronic traffic citation "shall be provided with a paper copy of the traffic citation." Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-207(c)(3) (emphasis added).

There are statutory exceptions to the requirement to issue a traffic citation in lieu of arrest. Under § 55-10-207(h)(1), an officer is not required to issue a traffic citation in lieu of arrest "in any of the circumstances specified in § 40-7-118(c)," part of the more general "cite and release" statute. Under § 40-7-118(c)(6), no citation in lieu of arrest shall be issued if the person arrested "refuses to sign the citation."

1. The applicable statutory provisions are unambiguous. When a citation is issued in lieu
   of arrest, Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-207(c)(1) requires the person cited to sign the citation. This requirement applies to both electronic and paper citations. The purpose of the signature is to signify the cited person's acceptance of the citation and his agreement to appear in court as directed. In other words, by signing he agrees to certain conditions, in exchange for which he avoids arrest.

By statutory definition, the citation is a writing, in either electronic or paper format, that provides the person cited with information about the alleged violation and the terms and conditions of citation in lieu of an arrest. The person cited in lieu of arrest must sign the written citation, i.e., the paper or electronic version of the citation. It may be that the electronic pagination of the citation results in a last page that contains nothing but the signature line. If the person cited is being asked to sign a "blank screen" only because the pagination of the citation is such that the signature line falls on a page by itself but is clearly part of a citation that meets all of the statutory requirements and the cited person has the opportunity to read what he is signing, the officer may require the cited person to sign what otherwise appears to be a "blank screen." Doing so does not violate the person's legal rights. The officer may not, however, require the cited person to sign a blank screen on the officer's electronic data device if that screen is not part of a written citation. For example, the officer may not simply give the cited person an oral explanation of the citation and then require him to sign a blank screen.

Due process, as guaranteed by the State and federal constitutions, would require that the cited person be given full information about the traffic offense for which he is being cited and fair notice of the court date and the consequences of failure to appear in court. See Mullane v. Cent. Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306, 314 (1950). But requiring a person to sign a blank piece of paper or a blank electronic screen that is not part of a written citation would not comply with the due process requirement of fair and adequate notice.

2. Assuming that the "blank screen" is in fact part of a citation written on the officer's
   electronic data device, then the officer may physically arrest the person who refuses to sign that citation on that screen. Under § 55-10-207(h)(1), an officer is not required to issue a traffic citation in lieu of arrest "in any of the circumstances specified in § 40-7-118(c)." Accordingly, as applicable here, an officer is not required to issue a citation in lieu of arrest when a person cited refuses to sign a citation. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-7-118(c)(6). Under those circumstances, a cited person's refusal to sign the electronic traffic citation subjects him to physical arrest pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-207(h)(1), because, when he refuses to sign the citation he is refusing to provide assurance that he will appear in court to answer the allegation against him.

3. An officer violates Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-207 by not providing the person with a
   paper copy of the electronic traffic citation. The statute is clear: the person issued an electronic traffic citation "shall be provided with a paper copy of the traffic citation." Tenn. Code Ann. § 55- 10-207(c)(3).

HERBERT H. SLATERY III
Attorney General and Reporter

ANDRÉE SOPHIA BLUMSTEIN
Solicitor General

Requested by:
The Honorable Timothy Hill
State Representative
23 Legislative Plaza
Nashville, TN 37243