A bill that would strengthen the state's sexual offender laws and ensure Tennessee is completely in compliance with the federal government's Adam Walsh Act was discussed at length Tuesday evening in the House Judiciary Committee. House Bill 2789 would require violent juvenile sexual offenders age 14 years or older to register on a sexual offender registry.

Due to some concerns regarding juveniles who may not reoffend, an amendment was added to the bill. Currently, juveniles are assessed by mental health professionals after being adjudicated for a violent sexual crime. The Tennessee Association of Mental Health Organizations agreed to assess the juveniles as "high-risk" and "low-risk," with only those assessed as "high-risk" being required to register.

In addition, the bill states that a person must stay on the registry for 25 years and then may apply for removal. However, if the person is convicted of an additional offense, they must stay on the registry for life. These are the minimum requirements that keep the legislation in compliance with the Adam Walsh Act.

The federal government signed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act into law in 2006, and state compliance is tied to grant money. The state's fiscal analysts say that Tennessee is eligible to receive over $50 million in grant funding, but that 10 percent of that is in jeopardy unless House Bill 2789 passes.

Thirty-two states have some form of a violent juvenile sexual offender registry. The offenses that would qualify a violent juvenile sexual offender for the registry are aggravated rape, rape, aggravated sexual battery when coercion is involved, rape of a child with a victim at least four years younger, and aggravated rape of a child or the attempt of any of these.

After four and a half hours of discussion, the bill was deferred for one week. The legislation will be heard again in the Judiciary Committee next week and is expected to be voted on at that time.

A bill that I am sponsoring will require the written portion of the driver's license exam to be administered in English only passed out the House Public Safety Subcommittee this week. A fellow member last ran the legislation in 2007, and Senate Republicans were successful in passing it with an overwhelming 22-5 vote. However, House Democrats blocked the measure in a House subcommittee, and the bill died on a tie vote.

In 1984, Tennessee adopted a law making English the official language of the state. The law reads in part, "All communications and publications...produced by governmental entities in Tennessee shall be in English." The Tennessee Department of Safety (TDOS) does not apply the phrase to driver's license examinations or driver's license study guides, however. Currently, TDOS administers the test in English, Spanish, Korean, and Japanese.

I argued the law is needed for safety, saying that drivers who cannot read highway warning signs, traffic signs, hazard signs on other vehicles, or who cannot communicate with police or public safety personnel in the event of a serious accident or emergency are a danger to themselves and others.

While safety is the overriding reason for the bill, there are sound fiscal reasons as well. Last year the General Assembly's fiscal review committee found that the Department of Safety spent $64,500 just to print driver's license study guides in Spanish. In 2008, the General Sessions Court's language interpreter coordinator scheduled 6,838 court interpretations in the State of Tennessee costing taxpayers $1,058,673.96 statewide for court interpreters.

Having passed out of the House Public Safety Subcommittee for the first time, House Bill 262 will next be heard in the full House Transportation Committee.

The Senate and House Judiciary Committees approved legislation this week to attack a major source of illegal drug activity in Tennessee. House Bill 3221 would stiffen penalties against those who get prescriptions in another state and return to illegally distribute drugs in Tennessee.

Action on the bill follows a 96.6 percent increase in drug-related deaths, according to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Some Tennessee law enforcement officers attribute that increase to the misuse of prescription drugs by those who obtain them legally from out-of-state "pill mills."

The most common drugs found are OxyContin, Darvon, and Vicodin, but drug busts in Tennessee also have included Xanax and Roxicodones. The legislation would increase the penalties for the illegal trafficking of out-of-state drugs from a Class C misdemeanor, which carries a 30-day jail term and up to $50 in fines, to a Class D felony, with a 2 to 12 years in prison sentence and up to $5,000 in fines.

Lawmakers filed the bill after law enforcement officials in East Tennessee counties brought the matter to their attention. Tennessee law requires all entities that dispense medications to file information regarding controlled substances on a state database to monitor abuse. That law has helped curb prescription drug abuse by providing information to those prescribing and dispensing the drugs to alert them of potential abusers.

Although 40 states have laws establishing drug monitoring programs, Florida is among those who do not have a program. That state now has one of the highest concentrations of pain clinics in the U.S., including those housed in shopping centers. This has caused other states to pass laws cracking down on offenders who traffic these drugs within their boundaries.