What does it mean to report to the TN SOR ‘within forty-eight hours?’

I am often asked, “What does it mean to report to the TN SOR ‘within forty-eight hours?'”

The Tennessee Code defines “Within forty-eight (48) hours” to mean a continuous forty-eight-hour period, not including Saturdays, Sundays or federal or state holidays.  Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-202(31).

If an offender does not meet this requirement, he or she could be charged with the felony of Failure to Register, which has a ninety day minimum period of incarceration.


The following events trigger a forty-eight hour reporting requirements under:
  • Establishing or changing a primary or secondary residence  (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-203)
  • Establishing a physical presence at a particular location  (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-203)
  • Becoming employed or practicing a vocation  (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-203)
  • Becoming a student in this state  (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-203)
  • Release on probation or any alternative to incarceration  (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-203)
  • Becoming reasonably certain of the intention to move from Tennessee to another state  (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-203)
  • Moving to another state  (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-203)
  • Release from probation or parole  (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-203)
  • A change in any other information given to the registering agency by the offender that is contained on the registration form  (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-203)
  • A material change in employment or vocation status  (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-203)
    • “A material change in employment or vocational status” includes being terminated involuntarily from the offender’s employment or vocation, voluntarily terminating the employment or vocation, taking different employment or the same employment at a different location, changing shifts or substantially changing the offender’s hours of work at the same employment or vocation, taking additional employment, reducing the offender’s employment or any other change in the offender’s employment or vocation that differs from that which the offender originally registered. For a change in employment or vocational status to be considered a material one, it must remain in effect for five (5) consecutive days or more.
  • Release from incarceration  (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-204)
  • Return to the country from a previous deportation  (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-204)
  • Release or discharge from a nursing home, assisted living facility, mental health institution or no longer continuously confined to home or a health care facility due to mental or physical disabilities  (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-204)