This MTAS CityByte is a streaming video available here: https://youtu.be/7Jk20W6mhuU?si=Ku_HECPzMAxk8xy3
This video discusses a resource that was developed to assist local governments and law enforcement agencies in addressing the issue of homelessness in Tennessee.
| Homelessness Housing Tennessee |
This MTAS CityByte is available here: https://rise.articulate.com/share/vwymqejek-98kDjFmQkU-Yp5yHg-fB3t#/
The Tennessee General Assembly adopted a law in 2025 authorizing most municipal governing bodies to allow a member to participate in meetings electronically. The new law is codified at Tennessee Code Annotated § 6-54-149. This CityByte explains the law and the requirements municipalities must meet to exercise this authority.
| Meetings City council--Procedure Boards Boards--Municipal Tennessee |
This MTAS CityByte is available here: https://rise.articulate.com/share/EhkvdAY1NkyQ4dSHM_axJGdw9_YwL8I7
T.C.A. § 8-44-112 authorizes the governing body to adopt reasonable restrictions on the period for public comment, including restrictions related to the length of the public comment period, the number of individuals who can speak during the period, and the length of time each individual can speak.
| Meetings City council--Procedure Boards--Municipal Tennessee |
This MTAS CityByte is available here: https://rise.articulate.com/share/PJwRlMayZaeKbDKe27IMw-GJ4vQ4fpO3#/
Automatic license plate readers, known as LPR’s, are camera systems that capture the license plate data of passing vehicles, along with related information including vehicle identification, GPS location and date and time.
| Police Police--Administration Police--Crime prevention Police--Equipment--Cameras Motor vehicles Tennessee |
This report is the result of a collaborative research effort between MTAS and the UT Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs.
Executive Summary:
The use of ALPRs gained strong momentum over the past decade and there is no exception in the State of Tennessee. This study reports on the findings from the 2024 survey of police department chiefs in Tennessee. Overall, 53 departments participated. Two thirds of participating police departments reported the use of ALPRs. Among those not yet in use of ALPRs, the primary challenges are affordability, concerns regarding technical access to hotlists (i.e. pre-loaded databases of car license plates) and lack of community support. Despite these challenges, police departments expressed strong interest to embrace ALPRs soon.
The journey to embrace ALPRs in surveyed police departments started in 2013 and had a sharp increase from 2020. The average number of ALPR units was about 20, with most police departments owning less than ten units. Most departments learned about ALPRs from law enforcement agencies or vendors and used either their agency budgets or local funding to acquire the units. The adoption of ALPRs was locally driven, attempting to address local needs, funded by local resources and counted on local government support.
Most ALPR units were in fixed locations but also used to assist other investigations. ALPRs were frequently used for traffic control management, local crime investigation and some specialized activities. However, data from ALPR uses have not been well tracked and the effectiveness of ALPR uses was quite limited. Most ALPRs have limited access to hotlists, mainly confined to their own jurisdictions, except in very few cases such as AMBER alert or stolen cars where multiple jurisdiction hotlists were accessed. While departments have started to draft policies for ALPR use, a great deal of variation exists, leaving individual departments largely on their own. Participating departments identified a few challenges, ranging from procurement cost, legal concerns, to training, and access to hotlists. Nevertheless, police departments in general had expressed high satisfaction levels and intended to either continue or expand ALPR uses.
Note: The authors participated in a panel discussion about this research, which is available to stream on YouTube at RIC Connect Webinar Series 2025: Use of License Plate Readers in Tennessee Municipalities.
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MTAS UTBaker LPR survey report April 2025 2.pdf
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| Police--Administration Police--Crime prevention Police--Equipment--Cameras Police--Tennessee |
A sample resolution for Tennessee cities/towns to establish a policy allowing governing body members to participate in meetings by electronic means under specific circumstances.
| Meetings Open meetings Open meetings--Laws and regulations--Tennessee Tennessee |
This MTAS CityByte is available here: https://rise.articulate.com/share/ZREdJygW8BfM8K0zL7Pk3znbmjgvdfWW#/lessons/s08oOvCoZwfNXbaNYkj_h2dP5pk5NTlV
In recent years, an increased focus was placed on the amount that local governments were assessing in occupancy or hotel/motel tax and how the funds were used by the local governments once collected. After several meetings between industry representatives, local government representatives, and members of the Tennessee legislature, an agreement was reached by the stakeholders that culminated in the passage of Public Chapter 496, Acts of 2021. The law was amended again in 2024 and 2025. This short online course describe these changes in the law.
| Taxation Taxation--Municipal Taxes Taxes--Hotel and motel Taxes--Hotel and motel--Tennessee Tennessee |