MTSU Police are trying to decide if an elected constable from Hickman County has the legal right to carry a gun on the university campus. 23-year old Joshua Nelson is a student who lives in a dorm at MTSU and a gun was found in his room. Nelson is one of seven elected constable’s in Hickman County, Tennessee.

Police in Tennessee have the right to carry a gun onto a campus, so the question is, do constables have that same right. According to the Tennessee Constables Association, “Tennessee Constables are officers of the Tennessee Judicial System as prescribed by the State Constitution who are sworn and bonded peace officers with full powers of arrest under Tennessee Code Annotated Title 8, chapter 10.”

TennesseeConstable.com reports, “Tennessee Code requires that to be certified as a law enforcement officer with powers of arrest the constable is required to participate in 40 hours of in-service training and to be range-qualified each year by a Certified Firearms Instructor prior to carrying a firearm in an official capacity. Most constables have obtained a Department of Safety Handgun Carry Permit in addition to their constable weapons training.” Records with the TN Department of Safety show that Nelson does have a handgun carry permit in the state.

A 2009 TN Attorney General Opinion shows that a TN Board of Regents School does not have the authority to regulate an off duty officer from carrying a gun onto campus. 

www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/op/2009/op/op30.pdf

Jimmy Hart, the Director of News and Media Relations at MTSU, told WGNS Wednesday night, "All I can really say at this point is that this particular situation is still being reviewed and no decision has been made at this point." Hart told us that FERPA regulations will not allow him to comment on a students disciplinary action.

What is FERPA?

Source:

Jimmy Hart, Director of MTSU News and Media Relations

TN Attorney General Opinion from 2009 (see above)

FERPA - Family Education Rights and Privacy Act

Hickman County, Tennessee

Tennessee Constable's Association

TennesseeConstable.com