DUI Checkpoints in Memphis: Your Rights and How They Are Challenged

Short answer: sobriety checkpoints are legal in Tennessee when they are set up and run under predetermined guidelines and supervisory authority that limit what officers at the scene can decide (State v. Downey, 945 S.W.2d 102 (Tenn. 1997)). The Tennessee Highway Patrol publishes its checkpoint schedule every month. At a checkpoint you must stop and show your license, you do not have to answer questions about where you have been or what you drank, and field sobriety tests are voluntary; refusing a breath or blood test after an arrest is different and costs your license. A DUI arrest that began at a checkpoint can be challenged at the checkpoint itself. A first-offense DUI with Brooks Law Firm starts at a flat $2,500.

If you were arrested at a checkpoint, call (901) 324-5000 or call or text the criminal line at 901-412-2973. There are two deadlines running, one for the criminal case and one for your license, and the license side can be decided at your first court date. Se habla español.

Are DUI checkpoints legal in Tennessee?

Yes, with conditions. A checkpoint stops drivers who have done nothing suspicious, which is ordinarily not allowed. The U.S. Supreme Court approved sobriety checkpoints under the Fourth Amendment in Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz, 496 U.S. 444 (1990). The Tennessee Supreme Court, applying the Tennessee Constitution’s own search-and-seizure clause in State v. Downey, held that a sobriety roadblock is reasonable only when it is established and operated under predetermined guidelines and supervisory authority that minimize the risk of arbitrary intrusion. The court applied that test again in State v. Hicks, 55 S.W.3d 515 (Tenn. 2001).

The factors Tennessee courts look at:

• Who decided. Supervisory authority sets the time, the place and the procedure in advance. A checkpoint thrown together by an officer in the field is the classic problem.
• Which cars are stopped. Every car, or a neutral pattern fixed in advance, so that officers are not picking drivers.
• Safety and warning. A visible site with lights, signs, marked cars and uniformed officers.
• A brief stop. The detention is limited in length and scope unless an officer develops a reason to go further.
• Public notice. The dates and locations are announced to the public ahead of time. Downey counts that notice in deciding whether a checkpoint was reasonable, and the Highway Patrol treats publication as required. A checkpoint nobody announced is open to challenge on that ground alone.

A checkpoint that meets those standards is constitutional. A checkpoint that does not is an unlawful seizure of every car it stopped, and evidence that came from an unlawful seizure can be suppressed.

Where and when checkpoints are announced

Announcing checkpoints is not a courtesy in Tennessee; it is part of what makes one lawful. The Tennessee Highway Patrol posts a monthly schedule on its Checkpoint Enforcement page, listed by district with the date, county, location and type. Memphis District 4 covers Shelby County and the West Tennessee counties around it, including Fayette, Lauderdale, Haywood, Hardeman and Crockett. The lists include three kinds of checkpoint: sobriety, seat belt and driver license.

THP’s September 2026 list, for example, set two Shelby County sobriety checkpoints: one on Austin Peay Highway (State Route 14) south of Pleasant Ridge Road, and one on US 70/79 west of Mary Alice Drive. Some months have none in Shelby County. If you were stopped at a checkpoint run by another agency, the same constitutional standard applies, and we ask that agency for its plan the same way.

What happens at a checkpoint

The first contact is meant to be short. An officer asks for your license, and Tennessee law requires you to display it on demand (§ 55-50-351). While you talk, the officer is looking and listening: the smell of alcohol, speech, eyes, an open container, how you handle the license. If the officer forms a reasonable suspicion that you are impaired, you are directed out of the line to a secondary area for questions and field sobriety tests. If not, you should be on your way in a minute or two.

That moment of referral matters. The checkpoint itself justifies only the brief screening. Holding a driver longer, or sending a driver to the secondary area, needs a reason specific to that driver, and a stop prolonged without one is challengeable (Rodriguez v. United States, 575 U.S. 348 (2015)). What the officer wrote down as the reason, and whether the video shows it, is one of the first things we check.

Your rights at the checkpoint

• Stop, and show your license. Be calm and polite. Arguing at the window helps no one, and resisting creates a new charge.
• You do not have to answer questions about where you were coming from or whether you have been drinking. You can say, politely, that you would rather not answer questions.
• Field sobriety tests are voluntary in Tennessee, and declining them is not a refusal under the implied-consent law.
• Breath and blood tests are different. Refusing one after an arrest is a separate implied-consent violation. A first breath-test refusal is a one-year revocation. Since January 1, 2026, a driver with no prior conviction who is suspected of misdemeanor DUI and refuses a blood test faces 18 months, and from January 1, 2027 every first refusal carries 18 months. Since May 5, 2025 a refusal counts even when the State gets the blood anyway by warrant. See refusing the breath test in Memphis.
• A checkpoint is not consent to search your car. Officers need your consent, probable cause or another legal basis, and you may decline consent.

Can I turn around before a checkpoint?

Turning off before a checkpoint is not itself a crime. To stop a car that turned away, an officer needs the same reasonable suspicion as for any other traffic stop: a traffic violation, an unsafe maneuver or a sign of impairment. An illegal U-turn, a rolled stop sign or a missed signal supplies it, so if you turn, turn lawfully. Whether the violation an officer reports actually happened is something we compare against the dash and body camera video.

How a checkpoint DUI is challenged

A checkpoint case has a layer an ordinary traffic stop does not: the checkpoint itself has to pass the Downey test. We ask for the written plan and the approval behind it, who chose the time and place and when, the procedure for which cars were stopped, the staffing and signage, any advance publicity, and the logs of how the night actually ran. Plans that were never written, approved after the fact, or not followed at the scene are the openings. If the checkpoint fails, the stop fails, and the evidence that followed can be suppressed.

If the checkpoint holds up, the case is defended like any other DUI: the reason for the referral, the field sobriety tests and the conditions they were given in, and the breath or blood result. See how a Memphis DUI case is defended and breath and blood test defense. Checkpoint evidence is often good for the defense in one respect: the whole encounter usually happens on camera.

What to do this week

1. Write down what you remember while it is fresh: the location, the time, what you were asked, what you said, and how long you were held.
2. Keep every piece of paper you were given, including any notice about your license.
3. Do not talk about the night with anyone but your lawyer, and do not post about it.
4. Call before your first court date. Video and checkpoint records are easier to get early, and a refusal can be decided at that first setting.

What it costs

A first-offense DUI with Brooks Law Firm starts at a flat $2,500 in General Sessions at 201 Poplar and in the suburban courts, and most cases with issues to litigate run $2,500 to $5,000. You get one number in writing after a free consultation. See what a DUI lawyer costs in Memphis.

Frequently asked questions

Are DUI checkpoints legal in Memphis?

Yes, when they are set up and run under predetermined guidelines and supervisory authority, as State v. Downey requires. A checkpoint that was not is an unlawful stop, and the evidence from it can be suppressed.

Does the Highway Patrol announce checkpoints in advance?

Yes. Under State v. Downey, advance public notice is part of what makes a Tennessee checkpoint lawful, and THP posts a monthly list on tn.gov with the date, county, location and type of each checkpoint, by district. Shelby County is in Memphis District 4.

Can I turn around before a DUI checkpoint?

A lawful turn is not a crime. An officer who follows and stops you still needs reasonable suspicion of a violation or impairment, so the turn itself has to be legal.

Do I have to answer questions at a DUI checkpoint?

You must stop and show your license. You do not have to answer questions about where you were or what you drank, and you can decline politely.

Do I have to take field sobriety tests at a checkpoint?

No. Field sobriety tests are voluntary in Tennessee, and declining them is not an implied-consent refusal. Breath and blood tests after an arrest are a different matter.

What happens if I refuse a breath test at a checkpoint?

A first breath-test refusal is a one-year license revocation, charged separately from the DUI. A refused blood test can mean 18 months. The refusal can be decided as early as your first court date, so it needs attention right away.

Can a DUI from a checkpoint be thrown out?

It can, if the checkpoint was not set up and run as Tennessee law requires, or if you were held or referred for testing without a reason specific to you. Those are questions of the checkpoint’s records and the video, which is why we ask for them early.

Talk to a Memphis DUI lawyer

Patrick Brooks handles every DUI case personally, in General Sessions at 201 Poplar, the suburban courts and the surrounding counties. Start with the Memphis DUI defense page or first DUI in Memphis, or call (901) 324-5000 or text 901-412-2973.

This page is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Checkpoint schedules change monthly; check the Highway Patrol’s current list. Implied-consent periods depend on the date of the arrest and your history. The outcome of any case depends on its facts.