Jerry Summers
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is the state version of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Tennessee that is now financially supported like other government agencies by budget requests pursuant to the jurisdiction of the Tennessee General Assembly.
It also has statutory authority to conduct its own criminal investigations and is now many times requested to assert or take over the field and laboratory work in conjunction with the local duly elected District Attorney in the Volunteer State.
It was originally created in 1951 and over the years it has been expanded and re-established as an independent agency that operates three crime labs that perform forensic testings of all alcohol and drugs, blood specimens, rape kits and six field offices in the states major cities.
Without these laboratories the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases in the State of Tennessee would not only be more expensive but would also lead to more delays in the evaluation of cases by the local District Attorneys, public defenders, and defense counsel in their efforts to address the increasing number of cases in the state.
Although originally created as “an independent, unbiased, state agency to assist local law enforcement in the investigation of serious crimes” its responsibilities outside that specific designation have expanded to collecting and publishing data on crime statistics, a registry of sex offenders and other duties under leadership of a Director appointed by the sitting Governor for a six-year term.
The TBI has not been without controversy in its existence since 1951 and its ever increasing caseloads. Mistakes have been made and delays in providing laboratory results have produced criticism, but much of it has been unfounded.
In America, the “wheels of justice” often move slowly and unfortunately encourage self-appointed critics under the often “political banner of being tough on crime” to take advantage of sometimes unavoidable delays for a variety of reasons.
* * *
You can reach Jerry Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com