BHB/6/17
Sponsored by Mary Virginia Bohner, Emma Gutman of West High School
This legislation was filed in the Education category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE TENNESSEE YMCA YOUTH IN GOVERNMENT |
| 2 | Section 1: Terms in this act shall be defined as follows: |
| 3 | Automated Speed Enforcement Cameras: An automated system that uses a camera and a speed |
| 4 | measurement device to detect and capture images of vehicles traveling in excess of the posted |
| 5 | speed limit. |
| 6 | Active Time Period: Period of time when school zone regulations are active. |
| 7 | School Resource Officer: A sworn law-enforcement officer with arrest powers who works, either full |
| 8 | or part time, in a school setting. |
| 9 | Shift: Each active time period is one shift. Each school will have 2 shifts every school day (one at |
| 10 | the beginning of the school day and one at the end). |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Section 2: All school zones must have speed enforcement posted whether by automated speed |
| 13 | enforcement cameras or using one of the school’s officers to be posted during the active time |
| 14 | period for the school zone. |
| 15 | The school resource officer will be posted in the school zone to enforce the speed limit. These |
| 16 | officers will be equipped with radar guns to track vehicle speed during active time periods. |
| 17 | The school resource officer’s speed radar gun must be calibrated before and after every shift. The |
| 18 | radar gun’s tuning fork must also be calibrated every 6 months. This is consistent with |
| 19 | requirements for officers when enforcing speed limits in other situations. |
| 20 | The automated speed enforcement cameras must be calibrated annually. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Section 3: Fines for speeding in a school zone will remain at their original city-to-city rate. School |
| 23 | zone speeding could also result in a reckless driving charge. |
| 24 | In Tennessee, a reckless driving charge is a Class B Misdemeanor and could be punishable by up |
| 25 | to six months in jail and fines up to $500. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Section 4: Each school must either have at least one school resource officer posted in the school |
| 28 | zone during the active time period or install at least one automated speed enforcement camera. |
| 29 | Automated speed enforcement cameras cost from $15,000-$37,500. Each school would need at |
| 30 | least one camera posted at one of their school zone postings/signs if they do not choose to post a |
| 31 | school resource officer. |
| 32 | The cost of one full-time school resource officer is $73,150 per year. The School Resource Officer |
| 33 | Grant Program, administered and monitored by the Department of Homeland Security, covers one |
| 34 | full-time school resource officer at each public school within the state of Tennessee. |
| 35 | The average cost of a Ka-band (newer, super-wide frequency band) radar gun is $600. Tuning |
| 36 | forks, used as calibration equipment for the gun to verify accuracy, cost about $20. Each school |
| 37 | would need at least one of each of these for the school resource officer to use. |
| 38 | Section 5: All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this are hereby repealed. |
| 39 | Section 6: This act shall take effect June 1, 2024, the public welfare requiring it. |
| 40 |