NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee has enacted a new law mandating that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) track the number of sober individuals arrested for driving under the influence (DUI), as well as the police agencies involved in those arrests. Governor Bill Lee approved Senate Bill 1166 late last week, a move aimed at addressing concerns over wrongful DUI arrests.
Senator Raumesh Akbari, a Democrat from Memphis, sponsored the legislation, which originated from a year-long investigative report that highlighted alarming statistics. That investigation, led by journalist Jeremy Finley, revealed that over 600 people in Tennessee had been wrongfully arrested for DUI between 2017 and 2023 despite being completely sober.
During discussions in committee this past April, Akbari emphasized the importance of this legislation in uncovering the scope of the issue. “This was a significant media topic. The young lady who reached out to me was devastated by her experience,” Akbari said. He pointed to individuals like LaBreesha Batey, a NASA employee who was arrested for DUI in 2024 while sober, underscoring the need for more comprehensive data on the matter. Unfortunately, the TBI has not compiled data on arrests from 2024, leaving more recent concerns unaddressed.
The law, effective in 2025, stipulates that the TBI will publicly report the number of arrests involving sober drivers and specify which law enforcement agencies conducted those arrests. Despite previous inquiries, comprehensive data collection has been limited, restricted by laws governing TBI recordkeeping.
The TBI has clarified that it will only release data that has been previously compiled or requested, thus raising concerns about the transparency of DUI arrests in the state. Akbari posited that understanding the regions and circumstances surrounding these arrests is crucial for evaluating whether this is a widespread issue.
While the immediate data on which police agencies have made these arrests is not yet available, it is clear that the problem is not isolated to any specific area of Tennessee. Advocates, including Batey, have urged for more thorough investigations into what might be a systemic problem within the state’s law enforcement agencies.
As awareness surrounding wrongful DUI arrests grows, the passage of this law marks a significant step in acknowledging and addressing these issues. Observers and advocates hope that the forthcoming data will shed light on a pressing concern that has affected many Tennesseans.
This article was automatically written by OpenAI, and the people, facts, circumstances, and story may be inaccurate. Any article can be requested for removal, retraction, or correction by emailing [email protected].