Amends TCA Title 39; Title 40 and Title 71.

This bill makes the following changes to present law concerning criminal offenses against the elderly and vulnerable adults: (1) Under present law, a person who perpetrates or attempts to perpetrate physical abuse of an impaired adult and commits a killing in the process may be charged with first degree murder. A person commits physical abuse of an impaired adult by knowingly, other than accidental means, physically abusing an impaired adult and the abuse results in serious mental or physical harm. This bill replaces physical abuse of an impaired adult with aggravated abuse of an elderly or vulnerable adult as a factor that supports a charge of first-degree murder. A person commits the offense of aggravated abuse of an elderly or vulnerable adult who knowingly commits abuse, and the act results in serious psychological injury or serious physical harm; a deadly weapon is used to accomplish the act or the abuse involves strangulation; or the abuse results in serious bodily injury; (2) This bill replaces "fondling" with "sexual contact" as a type of action that constitutes sexual exploitation when committed upon or in the presence of an elderly or vulnerable adult, without that adult's effective consent, for purposes of sexual gratification. Present law does not specifically define "fondling." Present law defines "sexual contact" to include intentional touching of the victim's, defendant's, or any other person's intimate parts or the intentional touching of the clothing covering the immediate area of the victim's, defendant's, or any other person's intimate parts, if that touching can be reasonably construed as being for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification; (3) Under present law, in deciding the amount of bail required for release of defendants arrested for certain crimes including child abuse, child neglect, or child endangerment, the magistrate must review the facts of the arrest and detention of the defendant and determine whether the defendant is a threat to the alleged victim, a threat to public safety, and reasonably likely to appear in court. This bill requires the magistrate to make the same determinations in deciding the amount of bail for release of a defendant arrested for neglect of an elderly adult, neglect of vulnerable adult, or aggravated neglect of an elderly or vulnerable adult; (4) Under present law, a person who is arrested for physical abuse of an impaired adult, as described in (1), is subject to a 12-hour hold. This bill changes present law by applying the 12-hour hold requirement to a person who is arrested for abuse of an elderly or vulnerable adult or aggravated abuse of an elderly or vulnerable adult; (5) Under present law, in cases where an alleged offense contained in the Criminal Code concerning elderly and vulnerable adults or in the Tennessee Adult Protection Act has been committed, upon the state's motion, the court is required to conduct a hearing to preserve the victim's testimony within 60 days of the defendant's initial court appearance. This bill removes the reference to offenses under the Tennessee Adult Protection Act and changes the timing for the hearing to preserve the victim's testimony to within 60 days of filing the motion; (6) This bill authorizes a court to order that sentences run consecutively if the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant is convicted of two or more statutory offenses involving sexual exploitation of an elderly or vulnerable adult with consideration of the aggravating circumstances arising from the relationship between the defendant and victim, the nature and scope of the sexual acts, and the extent of the physical and mental damage to the victim; (7) Present law requires that persons convicted of any of the following offenses be placed on the registry of persons who have abused, neglected, misappropriated, or exploited the property of a vulnerable adult: financial exploitation of elderly or vulnerable person; neglect of an elderly adult; neglect of a vulnerable adult; abuse of elderly or vulnerable adult; aggravated abuse of elderly or vulnerable adult; or sexual exploitation of elderly adult or vulnerable adult. This bill adds that a person must be placed on the registry upon conviction for attempt to commit any such offense; (8) This bill adds having knowledge that a victim is a vulnerable adult to the list of factors used to establish whether a person committed the offense of rape and aggravated rape; (9) Under present law concerning offenses against elderly and vulnerable adults, "physical harm" is defined to mean "physical pain or injury, regardless of gravity or duration." This bill redefines "physical harm" to mean "an action that causes physical pain, injury, or diminished health or an action that would cause a reasonable person to suffer physical pain, injury, or diminished health, regardless of gravity or duration." This bill defines "diminished health" as "to make or cause the mental, emotional, or physical health of an individual to be weakened, lessened, or reduced"; (10) This bill requires adult protective services to provide to the district attorney general, upon request, the names of individuals obtained in the course of an adult protective services investigation that have information relevant to a criminal investigation of alleged conduct involving an elderly or vulnerable adult victim, but such disclosure must not identify the reporter of the alleged conduct if the reporter is included in the list of names; (11) This bill confers the circuit, general sessions, and chancery courts jurisdiction over proceedings arising relative to offenses against elderly and vulnerable adults; and (12) Under present law, an elderly or vulnerable adult victim's inability to attend judicial proceedings due to illness or mental or physical disability must be considered exceptional circumstances upon the state's motion to preserve testimony pursuant to Rule 15 of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedures. This bill authorizes the state to request the motion in any court having jurisdiction over the defendant and at any stage in the proceedings after the defendant's initial appearance.