Obstructing highway or other passageway

(a) A person commits an offense who, without legal privilege, intentionally, knowingly or recklessly: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.Law enforcement officer: includes a sheriff, sheriff's deputy, and, only for purposes of the enhancement of a crime, a deputy jailer. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106Legal privilege: means a particular or peculiar benefit or advantage created by law. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106Person: includes the singular and the plural and means and includes any individual, firm, partnership, copartnership, association, corporation, governmental subdivision or agency, or other organization or other legal entity, or any agent or servant thereof. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106Property: means anything of value, including, but not limited to, money, real estate, tangible or intangible personal property, including anything severed from land, library material, contract rights, choses-in-action, interests in or claims to wealth, credit, admission or transportation tickets, captured or domestic animals, food and drink, electric or other power. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106Riot: means a disturbance in a public place or penal institution as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 39-17-301written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105(1) Obstructs a highway, street, sidewalk, railway, waterway, elevator, aisle, or hallway to which the public, or a substantial portion of the public, has access; or any other place used for the passage of persons, vehicles or conveyances, whether the obstruction arises from the person’s acts alone or from the person’s acts and the acts of others; or (2) Disobeys a reasonable request or order to move issued by a person known to be a law enforcement officer, a firefighter, or a person with authority to control the use of the premises to: (A) Prevent obstruction of a highway or passageway; or (B) Maintain public safety by dispersing those gathered in dangerous proximity to a fire, riot or other hazard. (b) For purposes of this section, “obstruct” means to render impassable or to render passage unreasonably inconvenient or potentially injurious to persons or property. (c) (1) A violation of subdivision (a)(1) is a Class A misdemeanor. (2) A violation of subdivision (a)(2) is a Class C misdemeanor. (3) Notwithstanding subdivision (c)(1), a violation of subdivision (a)(1) is a Class E felony if the obstruction prevents an emergency vehicle from accessing a highway or street, the obstruction prevents a first responder from responding to an emergency, or if the obstruction prevents access to an emergency exit. For purposes of this subdivision (c)(3): (A) “Emergency exit” means a doorway in a building or facility used for egress to the outdoors only when there is an immediate threat to the health or safety of an individual; (B) “Emergency vehicle” means any vehicle of a governmental department or public service corporation when responding to an emergency, any vehicle of a police or fire department, and any ambulance; and (C) “First responder” has the same definition as used in § 39-13-116(d). (d) (1) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section, which must be proven by a preponderance of the evidence, that: (A) Solicitation and collection of charitable donations at a highway or street intersection were undertaken by members of an organization that has received a determination of exemption from the internal revenue service under 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3) or (4); (B) The members of the organization undertook reasonable and prudent precautions to prevent both disruption of traffic flow and injury to person or property; and (C) The solicitation and collection at the specific time and place and the specific precautions were proposed in advance to, and received the prior written approval of, the administrative head of the local law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the intersection is located. (2) No liability for any accident or other occurrence that arises from solicitations shall attach to the sheriff or government involved in issuing the permit, but shall be borne solely by the organization obtaining the permit. (3) This subsection (d) shall not be construed to supersede or affect any ordinance relative to collecting donations at public intersections in effect on July 1, 1993. (4) Any municipality by ordinance may prohibit roadblocks within its corporate limits notwithstanding this subsection (d).