Tennessee · Snapshot open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-17

Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-614: Protection of property

(a) A person in lawful possession of real or personal property is justified in threatening or using force against another, when and to the degree it is reasonably believed the force is immediately necessary to prevent or terminate the other's trespass on the land or unlawful interference with the property. (b) A person who has been unlawfully dispossessed of real or personal property is justified in threatening or using force against the other, when and to the degree it is reasonably believed the force is immediately necessary to reenter the land or recover the property, if the person threatens or uses the force immediately or in fresh pursuit after the dispossession: (1) The person reasonably believes the other had no claim of right when the other dispossessed the person; and (2) The other accomplished the dispossession by threatening or using force against the person. (c) Unless a person is justified in using deadly force as otherwise provided by law, a person is not justified in using deadly force to prevent or terminate the other's trespass on real estate or unlawful interference with personal property. Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1; 2009, ch. 194, § 1.
(a) A person in lawful possession of real or personal property is justified in threatening or using force against another, when and to the degree it is reasonably believed the force is immediately necessary to prevent or terminate the other's trespass on the land or unlawful interference with the property.
(b) A person who has been unlawfully dispossessed of real or personal property is justified in threatening or using force against the other, when and to the degree it is reasonably believed the force is immediately necessary to reenter the land or recover the property, if the person threatens or uses the force immediately or in fresh pursuit after the dispossession: (1) The person reasonably believes the other had no claim of right when the other dispossessed the person; and (2) The other accomplished the dispossession by threatening or using force against the person.
(1) The person reasonably believes the other had no claim of right when the other dispossessed the person; and
(2) The other accomplished the dispossession by threatening or using force against the person.
(c) Unless a person is justified in using deadly force as otherwise provided by law, a person is not justified in using deadly force to prevent or terminate the other's trespass on real estate or unlawful interference with personal property.

Where this section sits in the code

TN Code
Title 39
Chapter 11

(b) A person who has been unlawfully dispossessed of real or personal property is justified in threatening or using force against the other, when and to the degree it is reasonably believed the force is immediately necessary to reenter the land or recover the property, if the person threatens or uses the force immediately or in fresh pursuit after the dispossession: (1) The person reasonably believes the other had no claim of right when the other dispossessed the person; and (2) The other accomplished the dispossession by threatening or using force against the person.

(1) The person reasonably believes the other had no claim of right when the other dispossessed the person; and

(2) The other accomplished the dispossession by threatening or using force against the person.

(c) Unless a person is justified in using deadly force as otherwise provided by law, a person is not justified in using deadly force to prevent or terminate the other's trespass on real estate or unlawful interference with personal property.

Collected 2026-09-17T21:51:56Z. Source file · JSON

Compilation CC BY 4.0, Open US Law (Vaquill AI). GroundRules uses only the releases published under CC BY 4.0: from v2026.09 the compilation is licensed CC BY-NC 4.0, and GroundRules does not use those releases. Each affected row names its release in its vintage label. GroundRules parsed and filtered the compilation to retain enacted text. Source · License

Tennessee electronic product files were republished by Public.Resource.Org under a public-domain mark. GroundRules uses enacted text from Release 76 only as a labeled supplement to the newer Open US Law rows. Source

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