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Tennessee · Snapshot open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14

Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-602: Resisting stop, frisk, halt, arrest or search - Prevention or obstruction of service of legal writ or process

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Where this section sits in the code
  1. TN Code
  2. Title 39
  3. Chapter 16

(a) It is an offense for a person to intentionally prevent or obstruct anyone known to the person to be a law enforcement officer, or anyone acting in a law enforcement officer's presence and at the officer's direction, from effecting a stop, frisk, halt, arrest or search of any person, including the defendant, by using force against the law enforcement officer or another.

(b) Except as provided in § 39-11-611 , it is no defense to prosecution under this section that the stop, frisk, halt, arrest or search was unlawful.

(c) It is an offense for a person to intentionally prevent or obstruct an officer of the state or any other person known to be a civil process server in serving, or attempting to serve or execute, any legal writ or process.

(d) A violation of this section is a Class B misdemeanor unless the defendant uses a deadly weapon to resist the stop, frisk, halt, arrest, search or process server, in which event the violation is a Class A misdemeanor.

Collected 2026-09-14T18:32:26Z. Source file · JSON

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