(1) To be eligible
for participation in the Address Confidentiality Program, an individual must be
a resident of the State of Tennessee and meet the following requirements:
(a) Be a victim of domestic abuse, stalking,
human trafficking, or any sexual offense, including violent sexual offenses;
and,
(b) Have moved to a new
residential address, which is unknown to the victims' abuser, within the
previous thirty (30) days, or presently intend to move to a new residential
address unknown to the victims' abuser, within ninety (90) days from the date
of application; or,
(c) Be a
co-applicant residing at the residence of a primary applicant who satisfies
subdivision (b) above.
(2) A person who is required by law to be
registered under any of the following is not eligible to participate in the
address confidentiality program:
(a) Tennessee
Sexual Offender and Violent Sexual Offender Registration, Verification and
Tracking Act of 2004, T.C.A. §§
40-39-201
et seq.;
(b) Tennessee Animal
Abuser Registration Act, T.C.A. §§
40-39-101
et seq.;
(c) Registry of persons
who have abused, neglected, or misappropriated the property of vulnerable
individuals, T.C.A. §§
68-11-1001
et seq.; or
(d) Drug Offender
Registry, T.C.A. §
39-17-436.
(3) A prospective applicant may
submit an application for program participation to the Office of the Secretary
of State, with the assistance of an application assistant. An application for
program participation must be submitted on the designated form prescribed by
the Office of the Secretary of State. The application must include all of the
following:
(a) The mailing address and
telephone number(s) at which the applicant may be contacted;
(b) The address or addresses of the
applicant's residence address, school, institution of higher education,
business and/or place of employment, and/or those of the applicant's minor
children, which the applicant requests be treated as confidential;
(c) Documentary evidence that, either:
1. There exists an ongoing criminal case that
may result in, or an ongoing criminal case that has resulted in, a conviction
by a judge or jury or by a defendant's guilty plea, in which the applicant was
a victim of domestic abuse, stalking, human trafficking, or any sexual offense;
or,
2. A court of competent
jurisdiction has granted an order of protection to the applicant, which is in
effect at the time of application;
(d) In the absence of an ongoing criminal
case that may result, or an ongoing criminal case that has resulted, in a
conviction or guilty plea, or an order of protection granted by a court of
competent jurisdiction within this state which is in effect at the time of
application, the applicant may submit a notarized statement by a licensed
professional with knowledge of the circumstances, such as an attorney, social
worker, or therapist, confirming that such individual believes that the
applicant is in danger of further harm;
(e) Either of the following:
1. Documentary evidence that the applicant
has moved to a new residential address within the State of Tennessee, which is
unknown to the applicant's abuser to the best of the applicant's knowledge and
belief, within the previous thirty (30) days; or,
2. A sworn statement by the applicant that
the applicant has the present intent to move to a new address within the State
of Tennessee, which will be unknown to the applicant's abuser, within the
ninety (90) days following the application date.
3. The documentary evidence required by
subparagraph (1) above may consist of a rental agreement or utility service
agreement bearing the name of the applicant as a party to the agreement and
evidencing a residential address within the State of Tennessee, or any other
documentary evidence which is determined to be acceptable by the Office of the
Secretary of State.
(f)
A sworn statement by the applicant that disclosure of the confidential address
or addresses would endanger the safety of the applicant or the minor or the
person with a disability on whose behalf the application is made;
(g) A sworn statement by the applicant
confirming that the applicant understands all of the following:
1. That during the time the applicant chooses
to have a confidential voter registration record, the applicant may vote only
by absentee ballot;
2. That the
applicant may provide a program participation number instead of their
residential address on an application for an absentee ballot or on an absentee
voter's ballot identification envelope statement of voter with the voter's
signature;
3. That casting any
ballot in person during program participation will reveal the applicant's
precinct and residence address to precinct election officials and employees of
the county election commission, and may reveal the applicant's precinct or
residential address to members of the public; and,
4. That if the applicant signs an election
petition during program participation, the applicant's address will be made
available to the public.
(h) A knowing and voluntary designation of
the Secretary of State as the applicant's agent for the purposes of receiving
service of process and the receipt of mail;
(i) A knowing and voluntary release and
waiver of all future claims against the state for any claim that may arise from
participation in the address confidentiality program, except for a claim based
on the performance or nonperformance of a public duty that was manifestly
outside the scope of the officer's or employee's office or employment or in
which the officer or employee acted with malicious purpose, in bad faith, or in
a wanton or reckless manner;
(j) A
statement of the applicant's consent for the Department of State to release
their information, including their residential address, to the Department of
Correction and/or the Board of Parole, if the participant is subject to
probation and/or parole;
(k) A
statement of the applicant's consent for the Department of State to release
their information, including their residential address, to the Department of
Children's Services, if the participant is receiving services from the
Department of Children's Services or are otherwise required to participate in
home visits with the Department of Children's Services.
(l) The notarized signature of the applicant,
the name and notarized signature of the application assistant who assisted the
applicant, and the date on which the applicant and application assistant signed
the application;
(m) If, at the
time of application, the applicant is subject to a court order or is involved
in a court action related to the dissolution of marriage proceedings, child
support, or the allocation of parental responsibilities or parenting time, the
applicant must also provide the name of the court, contact information for the
court, and the case number(s) associated with those proceedings; and,
(n) A voter registration form, if the
applicant is eligible to vote and wishes to register to vote or update a
current voter registration.
(4) If an applicant submits an application
based on the applicant's present intent to relocate to a new residential
address within the State of Tennessee within the ninety (90) days following the
date of application, the applicant must submit documentation of the applicant's
move to such residential address within ninety (90) days from the date of
application. Such documentation may include, but is not limited to, a rental
agreement or a utility service agreement executed within ninety (90) days of
the date of application and evidencing a residential address within the State
of Tennessee, or any other documentary evidence which is determined to be
acceptable by the Office of the Secretary of State.
(5) Following receipt and certification of a
properly submitted application, the Secretary of State shall issue to the
program participant a unique substitute address, a unique participant
identification number, and documentary evidence of such participation that may
be used as proof of program participation, if requested, when the applicant
requests that a governmental entity or third party use the substitute address
as the participant's official address of record. The Secretary of State shall
also issue to the participant all other informational documentation required by
law.
(6) Following certification of
program participation, the Office of the Secretary of State will accept all
first class mail and/or certified mail received at the substitute address and
forward this material to the participant at the address designated by the
participant on the participant's application within three (3) business days
from the date of receipt. The Office of the Secretary of State will also accept
all service of process received at the substitute address and shall immediately
forward this material to the participant at the address designated by the
program participant on the participant's application.
(7) The Office of the Secretary of State will
not accept or forward packages, periodicals, or marketing materials. If these
materials are received by the Office of the Secretary of State, they will be
immediately returned to sender or securely shredded as applicable. For these
purposes, a package is defined as any piece of mail with any dimension greater
than 12 inches wide, 15 inches long, § inches thick, or over 13 ounces in
weight.
(8) Mail received by the
Office of the Secretary of State for forwarding cannot be retrieved by
participants in person for any reason. Participants should not attempt to
physically retrieve their mail from the Office of the Secretary of State at any
time.
Authority: T.C.A. §§
40-38-601, et
seq; Public Chapter 577, enacted March 19, 2020; and Public Chapter 140,
enacted 2021.
