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Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS)

Donations

Reference Number: MTAS-343
Reviewed Date: 09/24/2021

Funds can be donated to the Drug Fund from civic organizations, or a defendant may be ordered to donate funds to the Drug Fund in addition to paying the statutory minimum fine for a drug offense.

A defendant cannot be ordered or allowed to donate money to the Drug Fund without paying at least the minimum fine for the offense. In the past, some defendants were ordered, as a result of a plea bargain, to make a donation to the Drug Fund and pay something less than the minimum fine. In effect this circumvented the requirement to divide fine revenues between the General Fund and the Drug Fund. This action is improper. Op. Tenn. Atty. Gen., 2003.