(a) Any person who violates § 70-8-104(c) or any regulations issued under § 70-8-104, or fails to procure or violates the terms of any permit issued thereunder, commits a Class B misdemeanor. (b) Any person who fails to procure or violates the terms of any permit issued under § 70-8-106(d) and (e) commits a Class A misdemeanor. (c) Any officer employed and authorized by the executive director or any peace officer of the state or of any municipality or county within the state has the authority to conduct warrantless searches as provided by law, and to execute a warrant to search for and seize any equipment, business records, merchandise or wildlife taken, used, or possessed in connection with a violation of any section of this part. Any such officer or agent may, without a warrant, arrest any person who such officer or agent has probable cause to believe is violating, in the presence or view of the officer or agent, any such section, or any regulation or permit provided for by this part. An officer or agent who has made an arrest of a person in connection with any such violation may search such person or business records at the time of arrest and seize any wildlife, records, or property taken, or used, in connection with any such violation. (d) Equipment, merchandise, wildlife, or records seized under subsection (c) shall be held by an officer or agent of the agency pending disposition of court proceedings, and upon conviction be forfeited to the state for destruction or disposition as the executive director may deem appropriate; provided, that prior to forfeiture, the executive director may direct the transfer of wildlife so seized to a qualified zoological, educational, or scientific institution for safekeeping, the costs of the transfer to be assessable to the defendant. The executive director is authorized to issue regulations to implement this subsection (d). (e)(1) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), it is not an offense for any person to disturb the habitat of, alter, take, attempt to take, possess, or transport a black vulture, also known by the name Coragyps atratus, in this state. (2) No state funds or personnel, or other state resources, may be used to enforce any prohibition against the disturbance of the habitat of, alteration, taking, attempting to take, possession, or transporting of a black vulture. (3) Nothing in this subsection (e) prohibits the agency from using state funds or personnel, or other state resources, to assist landowners in acquiring federal depredation permits for black vultures.
Citation: Tenn. Code Ann. § 70-8-108 (West 2015).