Boyd PattersonThe county’s top gang prosecutor said Wednesday he will remove a little-known provision on a Sessions Court form that allows police to search the homes of people assigned court-ordered community service.
Boyd Patterson said the provision was never intended for minor offenses such as littering, simple drug possession or similar misdemeanors. Instead, the language is aimed at the “worst of the worst” gang members, he said.
But the provision, in effect since November, requires people who agree to perform public works days through the court to allow such searches regardless of their offense.
“The ones on public works days are not the hard-core, long-term gang members that this language was intended for,” Patterson said. “This is to give police and prosecutors additional tools to go after gang members.”
The change is one step in a deeper conversation begun by local criminal defense attorney Hank Hill, who challenged the provision when he learned of it through a client in recent weeks and notified the Chattanooga Times Free Press.