The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that a statute allowing the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to collect a fee when a person is convicted of certain drug and alcohol offenses does not deprive defendants of the right to a fair and impartial trial under both the Tennessee and U.S. constitutions.
The ruling reverses a decision from the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, a news release states.
The case involved a challenge to the constitutionality of a statute that imposes a $250 blood and alcohol drug concentration test fee on every person convicted of certain offenses, including driving under the influence, if samples from the offender were sent to the TBI’s forensic lab. The fees are deposited in a TBI toxicology unit intoxicant testing fund and can be used to fund staff positions and buy equipment in the labs.
Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery said the ruling “upholds the constitutionality of a Tennessee law that imposed fees on individuals convicted of DUI and removes any uncertainty over past DUI convictions.”
He also said the court pointed out that “any financial incentive created by the law is far too remote to constitute a possible temptation for TBI forensic agents to falsify test results and generate fees.”