Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 21 and Title 55, Chapter 8.

This bill authorizes a local education agency (LEA) to purchase, install, operate, and maintain cameras on the exterior of school buses, or may enter into a contract with a private vendor to purchase, install, operate, and maintain cameras on the exterior of school buses on behalf of the LEA, for the purpose of recording images of motor vehicles that are in violation of the law requiring vehicles to stop upon approaching a school bus. <br /> <br /> This bill requires an LEA that allows cameras on the exterior of school buses to create procedures for school bus drivers to submit information that an alleged violation has occurred. The procedures must require a school bus driver to provide the date, location, and time of the alleged violation to the LEA and require the school bus driver to provide a signed statement that the school bus driver witnessed the alleged violation. This bill prohibits an LEA from submitting evidence from a camera to local law enforcement officers without the information provided by a bus driver. <br /> <br /> Under this bill, only POST-certified or state-commissioned law enforcement officers will be authorized to review evidence from a camera and make a determination as to whether a violation. Review of camera evidence will be limited to footage of the alleged violation occurring at the date and time provided by a bus driver. <br /> <br /> Generally under present law, it is a Class A misdemeanor punishable only by a fine of not less than $250 nor more than $1,000 for a person to fail to stop upon approaching a school bus. Under this bill, a first violation of failing to stop for the bus that is based solely upon evidence provided by a school bus driver and evidence from a camera that has been installed on the exterior of a school bus will be considered a nonmoving traffic violation. The registered owner of the motor vehicle will be responsible for payment of any notice of violation or citation, not to exceed $50.00, for a first offense citation issued as the result of evidence provided by a school bus driver and evidence from a camera; except, that the owner is not responsible for the violation if the owner submits documentation in accordance with present law that the owner did not have care, custody, or control of the motor vehicle at the time of the violation. A second or subsequent violation that is based solely upon evidence provided by a school bus driver and evidence from a camera that has been installed on the exterior of a school bus under this bill will be punished in accordance with present law, with the same exception as described above for an who submits proof that the motor vehicle was not in the care, control, or custody of the owner at the time of the violation.<br /> <br /> This bill the specific requirements for the issuance of citations pursuant to this bill. This bill requires that proceeds from any fine imposed by this bill that is based solely upon evidence obtained from a school bus driver and a camera be allocated as follows:<br /> <br /> (A) 70 percent to the LEA for the purpose of defraying the costs of purchasing, installing, operating, or maintaining the camera, or reimbursing or compensating the vendor with which the LEA contracted regarding the purchase, installation, operation, or maintenance of the camera; and<br /> (B) 30 percent to the LEA without being designated for any particular purpose.<br /> <br /> This bill requires an LEA that contracts for transportation services with any persons or entities that own school buses to include in each contract a provision requiring the owner to allow the LEA, private vendor, or local law enforcement agency reasonable access to the bus for the purposes of installing, maintaining, or inspecting cameras or obtaining, gathering, or transmitting recorded images from the camera to enforce the requirement for a motor vehicle to stop for a school bus.<br /> <br /> ON APRIL 22, 2019, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 268, AS AMENDED.<br /> <br /> AMENDMENT #1 revises and adds to this bill, as follows:<br /> <br /> (1) Removes the requirement for information from the school bus driver and all related references;<br /> (2) Requires an LEA that installs cameras on the exterior of school buses to enter into a memorandum of understanding with local law enforcement for the preservation of evidence from a camera;<br /> (3) Rewrites the fine allocation provisions described above in the bill summary in (A) and (B) to instead require that 100 percent of the proceeds from a fine be allocated to the LEA without being designated for any particular purpose. If the LEA uses proceeds to reimburse or compensate a vendor regarding the purchase, installation, operation, or maintenance of a camera, then this amendment also requires an LEA to develop procedures for such reimbursement or compensation and to maintain records of such reimbursement or compensation; <br /> (4) Clarifies the definition of "LEA" for purposes of this bill;<br /> (5) Specifies, in regard to the Class A misdemeanor, that the state must meet the burden of proof and that the person charged has no burden to prove innocence; and<br /> (6) Adds that any photograph or video recorded by a camera in accordance with this bill is admissible as evidence in a proceeding alleging a violation of the requirement to stop for a school bus, if the photograph or video meets the standards of admissibility set forth in the Tennessee Rules of Evidence.<br /> <br />