Strengths

• Boards may only use directly related crimes and must consider evidence of rehabilitation.
• Created a petition process for applicants.

Areas of Improvement

• Extend state’s protections to all occupations.
• Eliminate rebuttable presumptions and raise standard of evidence to clear and convincing.
• Ban boards from denying licenses based on “moral turpitude.”

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Thanks to the 2018 Fresh Start Act, Tennessee ranks highly in the Relevance and Due Process categories, but an abysmal Exclusion score drops the state’s final grade to a C+. Although the reforms greatly improved state law, it created a number of carveouts that undermine the new protections.

Licensing authorities are explicitly granted the power to disqualify based on misdemeanors of “moral turpitude,” a vague standard that gives boards nearly unlimited discretion. For applicants convicted of Class A, Class B,  or certain Class C felonies, as well as any felony that triggers registration as an animal abuser or sexual offender, there is a “rebuttable presumption” that the crime is related to the license sought, effectively shifting the burden of proof onto the applicant.

Moreover, the state’s Fresh Start Act does not apply to many sectors, including education, finance, insurance, mental health, and social services. Those exclusions trigger draconian consequences. For instance, applicants who have been convicted of any drug felony are still disqualified from working at schools, day care centers, or other credentialed positions that come into “direct contact” with children.

Statute: Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-76-104, § 63-1-130 (2018)