68-212-503 - Quarantine of property. - Tennessee Statutes

68-212-503. Quarantine of property.

(a)  The purpose of the quarantine provided for in this section is to prevent exposure of any person to the hazards associated with methamphetamine and the chemicals associated with the manufacture of methamphetamine.

(b)  Any property, or any structure or room in any structure on any property wherein the manufacture of a controlled substance listed in § 39-17-408(d)(2) is occurring or has occurred, may be quarantined by the local law enforcement agency where such property is located. The law enforcement agency which quarantines the property shall be responsible for posting signs indicating that the property has been quarantined and, to the extent they can be reasonably identified, for notifying all parties having any right, title or interest in the quarantined property, including any lienholders.

(c)  (1)  Any person who has an interest in property quarantined pursuant to this section may file a petition in the general sessions, criminal, circuit or chancery court of the county in which the property is located. Such a petition shall be for the purpose of requesting that the court order the quarantine of such property be lifted for one (1) of the following reasons:

          (A)  That the property was wrongfully quarantined; or

          (B)  That the property has been properly cleaned, all hazardous materials removed and that it is now safe for human use but the law enforcement agency who imposed the quarantine refuses to lift it.

     (2)  The court shall take such proof as it deems necessary to rule upon a petition filed pursuant to this section and, after hearing such proof, may grant the petition and lift the quarantine or deny the petition and keep the quarantine in place.

(d)  It is prohibited for any person to inhabit quarantined property, to offer such property to the public for temporary or indefinite habitation, or to remove any signs or notices of the quarantine. Any person who willfully violates this subsection (d) commits a Class B misdemeanor.

[Acts 2004, ch. 855, § 4; 2005, ch. 18, §§ 6, 7.]