Tennessee § 39-13-513 Prostitution - Defenses

Tennessee Statutes

§ 39-13-513 — Prostitution - Defenses

Tennessee § 39-13-513

Title39

This text of Tennessee § 39-13-513 (Prostitution - Defenses) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-513 (2026).

Text

(a)A person commits an offense under this section who engages in prostitution.

(b)(1) Prostitution is a Class B misdemeanor.

(2)Prostitution committed within one hundred feet (100') of a church or within one and one-half (11/2) miles of a school, such distance being that established by § 49-6-2101 , for state-funded school transportation, is a Class A misdemeanor.

(3)A person convicted of prostitution within one and one-half (11/2) miles of a school shall, in addition to any other authorized punishment, be sentenced to at least seven (7) days of incarceration and be fined at least one thousand dollars ($1,000).

(c)As used in subsection (b), "school" means all public and private schools that conduct classes in any grade from kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12).

(d)Notwithstanding

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(a) A person commits an offense under this section who engages in prostitution. (b) (1) Prostitution is a Class B misdemeanor. (2) Prostitution committed within one hundred feet (100') of a church or within one and one-half (11/2) miles of a school, such distance being that established by § 49-6-2101 , for state-funded school transportation, is a Class A misdemeanor. (3) A person convicted of prostitution within one and one-half (11/2) miles of a school shall, in addition to any other authorized punishment, be sentenced to at least seven (7) days of incarceration and be fined at least one thousand dollars ($1,000). (c) As used in subsection (b), "school" means all public and private schools that conduct classes in any grade from kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12). (d) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, if it is determined after a reasonable detention for investigative purposes, that a person suspected of or charged with a violation of this section is under eighteen (18) years of age, that person is immune from prosecution for prostitution as a juvenile or adult. A law enforcement officer who takes a person under eighteen (18) years of age into custody for a suspected violation of this section shall, upon determination that the person is a minor, provide the minor with the telephone number for the Tennessee human trafficking resource center hotline, notify the department of children's services, and release the minor to the custody of a parent or legal guardian or transport the minor to a shelter care facility designated by the juvenile court judge to facilitate the release of the minor to the custody of a parent or legal guardian. (e) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that a person charged with a violation of this section was so charged for conduct that occurred because the person was a victim of an act committed in violation of § 39-13-307 or § 39-13-309 , or because the person was a victim as defined under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act ( 22 U.S.C. § 7102 ).

Legislative History

Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 246, s 1, eff. 7/1/2021. Amended by 2015 Tenn. Acts, ch. 67, s 1, eff. 7/1/2015. Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1; 1995, ch. 118, § 1; 2011 , ch. 377, § 1; 2012 , ch. 891, § 1.