Tennessee governor seeks broad Homeland Security power with confidential actions

Gov. Bill Lee is behind a bill that gives the state homeland security agency more power. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s administration is seeking to broaden the state Homeland Security’s investigative authority and make its actions confidential, leading critics to call it a “secret police.”

Under Senate Bill 1880 and House Bill 1639, the Office of Homeland Security would be created within the Department of Safety, even though it has existed since 2003 under an executive order issued by former Gov. Phil Bredesen after the 9/11 attack. As part of the new bill, the safety commissioner can hire commissioned agents and non-commissioned personnel to the office that directs the state’s homeland security operations and works with state, local and federal law enforcement agencies.

Separately, SB1881 would make all records of the office confidential, closing them to public inspection, even after investigations and criminal cases are finished, a departure from laws that apply to local police departments.

As part of its expanded authority, the office would be allowed to secure the state’s election infrastructure at the secretary of state’s request

A spokesman for the Department of Safety and Homeland Security didn’t respond to questions Monday, and Lee said he didn’t the bill’s details.

Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson of Franklin and House Majority Leader William Lamberth of Portland are sponsoring the legislation for the Lee administration.

Johnson said the Lee administration believes the agency should be elevated to department-level status. He added the Senate will look at the public records exemption bill and let the safety commissioner make a case for keeping records secret.

Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn of Nashville blasted the bill as the creation of a “secret police” and said state officials gave little information when pressed about the plan last week.

Johnson disagreed with that characterization and pointed out that state law has several areas dealing with public threats and safety that are protected from public scrutiny, at least until investigations are complete.

The bill is likely to be amended in House and Senate committees.

Lamberth said lawmakers don’t assume administration bills are “perfect upon arrival” and added that the bill will be vetted. 

Deborah Fisher, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, said the proposed exemption from the state’s public records law is problematic, especially if the office’s duties are expanded to include cases unrelated to terrorism and officers are given authority to participate in investigations and make arrests statewide.

Without a clear public benefit for confidentiality, the office could be “deployed in more ways than it has in the past with little transparency or accountability,” Fisher said in a release.

Homeland Security officers would be given the power to make arrests anywhere in the state, and jails would be required to take in any person they arrest. Officers would have to go through law enforcement training and carry a badge and identification card and show them before making an arrest “within a reasonable time.”

The office would be allowed to conduct “overt and covert” investigations into threats of terrorism, cyber-attacks and danger to schools, infrastructure and public officials. It also would work with local, state and federal law enforcement within Tennessee and outside the state to prevent crime and apprehend criminals.

Homeland security agents would not be prohibited from investigating crimes not specified in the bill, giving them even wider discretion. Other law enforcement agencies would not be prohibited from investigating crimes referred to in the bill.

Expanding confidential law enforcement powers within the Department of Safety is nothing new to the Lee administration. Last year, lawmakers approved the governor’s request to set up an immigration enforcement bureau within the department that is exempt from the Public Records Act. It is designed to work with the federal government on immigration matters and make grants to local law enforcement agencies.