Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1360-11-01-.02 - ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION PROCEDURES

(1) To be eligible for participation in the Address Confidentiality Program, an individual must be a resident of the State of Tennessee and meet the following requirements:

(a) Be a victim of domestic abuse, stalking, human trafficking, or any sexual offense, including violent sexual offenses; and,

(b) Have moved to a new residential address, which is unknown to the victims' abuser, within the previous thirty (30) days, currently reside at an address unknown to the offender and not previously identified in any public record as the person's address, or presently intend to move to a new residential address unknown to the victims' abuser, within ninety (90) days from the date of application; or,

(c) Be a co-applicant residing at the residence of a primary applicant who satisfies subdivision (b) above.

(2) A person who is required by law to be registered under any of the following is not eligible to participate in the address confidentiality program:

(a) Tennessee Sexual Offender and Violent Sexual Offender Registration, Verification and Tracking Act of 2004, T.C.A. §§ 40-39-201 et seq.;

(b) Tennessee Animal Abuser Registration Act, T.C.A. §§ 40-39-101 et seq.;

(c) Registry of persons who have abused, neglected, or misappropriated the property of vulnerable individuals, T.C.A. §§ 68-11-1001 et seq.; or

(d) Drug Offender Registry, T.C.A. § 39-17-436.

(3) A prospective applicant may submit an application for program participation to the Office of the Secretary of State, with the assistance of an application assistant. An application for program participation must be submitted on the designated form prescribed by the Office of the Secretary of State. The application must include all of the following:

(a) The mailing address and telephone number(s) at which the applicant may be contacted;

(b) The address or addresses of the applicant's residence address, school, institution of higher education, business and/or place of employment, and/or those of the applicant's minor children, which the applicant requests be treated as confidential;

(c) Documentary evidence that, either:

1. There exists an ongoing criminal case that may result in, or an ongoing criminal case that has resulted in, a conviction by a judge or jury or by a defendant's guilty plea, in which the applicant was a victim of domestic abuse, stalking, human trafficking, or any sexual offense; or,

2. A court of competent jurisdiction has granted an order of protection to the applicant, which is in effect at the time of application;

(d) In the absence of an ongoing criminal case that may result, or an ongoing criminal case that has resulted, in a conviction or guilty plea, or an order of protection granted by a court of competent jurisdiction within this state which is in effect at the time of application, the applicant may submit a notarized statement by a licensed professional with knowledge of the circumstances, such as an attorney, social worker, or therapist, confirming that such individual believes that the applicant is in danger of further harm;

(e) Either of the following:

1. Documentary evidence that the applicant has moved to a new residential address within the State of Tennessee, which is unknown to the applicant's abuser to the best of the applicant's knowledge and belief, within the previous thirty (30) days; or,

2. A sworn statement by the applicant that the applicant currently resides at an address unknown to the offender and not previously identified in any public record as the person's address or has the present intent to move to a new address within the State of Tennessee, which will be unknown to the applicant's abuser, within the ninety (90) days following the application date.

3. The documentary evidence required by subparagraph (1) above may consist of a rental agreement or utility service agreement bearing the name of the applicant as a party to the agreement and evidencing a residential address within the State of Tennessee, or any other documentary evidence which is determined to be acceptable by the Office of the Secretary of State.

(f) A sworn statement by the applicant that disclosure of the confidential address or addresses would endanger the safety of the applicant or the minor or the person with a disability on whose behalf the application is made;

(g) A sworn statement by the applicant confirming that the applicant understands all of the following:

1. That during the time the applicant chooses to have a confidential voter registration record, the applicant may vote only by absentee ballot;

2. That the applicant may provide a program participation number instead of their residential address on an application for an absentee ballot or on an absentee voter's ballot identification envelope statement of voter with the voter's signature;

3. That casting any ballot in person during program participation will reveal the applicant's precinct and residence address to precinct election officials and employees of the county election commission, and may reveal the applicant's precinct or residential address to members of the public; and,

4. That if the applicant signs an election petition during program participation, the applicant's address will be made available to the public.

(h) A knowing and voluntary designation of the Secretary of State as the applicant's agent for the purposes of receiving service of process and the receipt of mail;

(i) A knowing and voluntary release and waiver of all future claims against the state for any claim that may arise from participation in the address confidentiality program, except for a claim based on the performance or nonperformance of a public duty that was manifestly outside the scope of the officer's or employee's office or employment or in which the officer or employee acted with malicious purpose, in bad faith, or in a wanton or reckless manner;

(j) A statement of the applicant's consent for the Department of State to release their information, including their residential address, to the Department of Correction and/or the Board of Parole, if the participant is subject to probation and/or parole;

(k) A statement of the applicant's consent for the Department of State to release their information, including their residential address, to the Department of Children's Services, if the participant is receiving services from the Department of Children's Services or are otherwise required to participate in home visits with the Department of Children's Services.

(l) The notarized signature of the applicant, the name and notarized signature of the application assistant who assisted the applicant, and the date on which the applicant and application assistant signed the application;

(m) If, at the time of application, the applicant is subject to a court order or is involved in a court action related to the dissolution of marriage proceedings, child support, or the allocation of parental responsibilities or parenting time, the applicant must also provide the name of the court, contact information for the court, and the case number(s) associated with those proceedings; and,

(n) A voter registration form, if the applicant is eligible to vote and wishes to register to vote or update a current voter registration.

(4) If an applicant submits an application based on the applicant's present intent to relocate to a new residential address within the State of Tennessee within the ninety (90) days following the date of application, the applicant must submit documentation of the applicant's move to such residential address within ninety (90) days from the date of application. Such documentation may include, but is not limited to, a rental agreement or a utility service agreement executed within ninety (90) days of the date of application and evidencing a residential address within the State of Tennessee, or any other documentary evidence which is determined to be acceptable by the Office of the Secretary of State.

(5) Following receipt and certification of a properly submitted application, the Secretary of State shall issue to the program participant a unique substitute address, a unique participant identification number, and documentary evidence of such participation that may be used as proof of program participation, if requested, when the applicant requests that a governmental entity or third party use the substitute address as the participant's official address of record. The Secretary of State shall also issue to the participant all other informational documentation required by law.

(6) Following certification of program participation, the Office of the Secretary of State will accept all first class mail and/or certified mail received at the substitute address and forward this material to the participant at the address designated by the participant on the participant's application within three (3) business days from the date of receipt. The Office of the Secretary of State will also accept all service of process received at the substitute address and shall immediately forward this material to the participant at the address designated by the program participant on the participant's application.

(7) The Office of the Secretary of State will not accept or forward packages, periodicals, or marketing materials. If these materials are received by the Office of the Secretary of State, they will be immediately returned to sender or securely shredded as applicable. For these purposes, a package is defined as any piece of mail with any dimension greater than 12 inches wide, 15 inches long, 3/4 inches thick, or over 13 ounces in weight.

(8) Mail received by the Office of the Secretary of State for forwarding cannot be retrieved by participants in person for any reason. Participants should not attempt to physically retrieve their mail from the Office of the Secretary of State at any time.

Notes

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1360-11-01-.02

Emergency rules filed October 30, 2018; effective through April 28, 2019. Emergency rules expired effective April 29, 2019. Original rules filed November 21, 2019; effective February 19, 2020. Emergency rules filed June 2, 2020; effective through November 29, 2020. Emergency rules expired effective November 30, 2020, and the rules reverted to their previous statuses. Amendments filed September 9, 2020; effective December 8, 2020. Emergency rules filed May 25, 2021; effective through November 21, 2021. Emergency rules expired effective November 22, 2021, and the rules reverted to their previous statuses. Amendments filed December 21, 2021; effective March 21, 2022. Amendments filed September 9, 2024; effective 12/8/2024.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 40-38-601, et seq., and 40-38-604; 2018 Public Acts, Ch. 1004, § 4; Public Chapter 577, enacted March 19, 2020; and Public Chapter 140, enacted 2021.