§ 41-2-143 — Conditions for furlough - Procedure

(a) Whenever any person has been committed to the county jail or county workhouse, any sheriff or workhouse superintendent of a county with a population of eight hundred thousand (800,000) or more, according to the 1980 federal census or any subsequent federal census, is authorized, in the official's sole discretion, to permit an inmate to leave the place of confinement on furlough under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed and promulgated by the sheriff or workhouse superintendent. (b) Whenever any person has been committed to the workhouse in a county having a metropolitan form of government, the metropolitan sheriff is authorized, in the sheriff's sole discretion, to permit an inmate to leave the place of confinement on furlough, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed and promulgated by the sheriff. (c) All furloughs shall be made on an individual basis under reasonable conditions to inmates: (1) In the event of serious illness or death of a member of the inmate's immediate family; (2) Who is on the work release program; or (3) Who has remaining before the inmate's scheduled release date a certain maximum number of days, which maximum number of days shall be fixed by a schedule to be included in the rules and regulations prescribed and promulgated by the sheriff or workhouse superintendent. (d) Furlough will be for a maximum of three (3) days, unless a longer time is specifically authorized by the sheriff or workhouse superintendent, and shall be granted only to those with a record of behavior and conduct as to be worthy of the privilege. (e) Any inmate eligible to be granted a furlough by the sheriff, chief jail administrator or workhouse superintendent may make application to that superintendent or sheriff upon forms furnished by the workhouse or sheriff's department. The sheriff or the workhouse superintendent, after due consideration, may approve, reject or modify the request for furlough or may defer action on a request. The request shall be granted only upon notification of the furlough to the committing judge and to law enforcement authorities in the county of the prisoner's former residence.

Legislative History

Amended by 2022 Tenn. Acts, ch. 900, s 7, eff. 7/1/2022. Acts 1973, ch. 13, § 2; 1977, ch. 372, § 2; T.C.A., § 41-1254; Acts 1987, ch. 49, § 2.