Brooks Law Firm
A stalking accusation is one of the hardest charges to talk about calmly, because the word itself carries an image that often has little to do with the facts in front of the court. A great many Tennessee stalking cases grow out of a separating couple, a custody dispute, a group of mutual friends, or a series of messages that read very differently depending on what came before them. The statute, though, is specific. It has real elements, three distinct tiers, and a definition the State has to satisfy — and understanding that structure is what turns a frightening accusation into a case with a shape you can see.
Brooks Law Firm defends stalking and related charges in Shelby County and across West Tennessee. Call (901) 324-5000, or call or text (901) 412-2973. Se habla español.
What Stalking Means Under T.C.A. § 39-17-315
Stalking is defined as a willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment of another person that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested, and that actually causes the victim to feel that way.
Read that definition slowly, because it contains three separate requirements the State carries:
- A course of conduct — repeated or continuing, not a single exchange.
- An objective standard — conduct a reasonable person would find terrorizing or intimidating, not merely unwelcome or irritating.
- Actual effect — the complainant genuinely felt that way, which is a fact question, not an assumption.
Cases are frequently resolved on the first and second of those. Contact that was mutual, contact the complainant initiated or continued, contact about shared children or shared property, and contact that was unwanted but nowhere near the statutory threshold are all common and all worth developing with the actual message history rather than a summary of it.
The Three Tiers
Stalking — Class A misdemeanor
The base offense, carrying up to 11 months and 29 days. It becomes a Class E felony where the person was registered with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as a sexual offender or violent sexual offender.
Aggravated stalking — Class E felony
Stalking plus any one of five specific circumstances: displaying a deadly weapon during the conduct; a victim under 18 where the defendant is at least five years older, or a victim 65 or older; a prior stalking conviction within the past seven years; making a credible threat of death or bodily injury to the victim or to specified relatives; or violating a court order prohibiting contact with the victim. Class E carries 1 to 6 years.
Especially aggravated stalking — Class C felony
Reserved for three situations: a prior stalking or aggravated stalking conviction involving the same victim; intentionally or recklessly causing serious bodily injury during aggravated stalking; or a defendant 18 or older where the victim was under 12 during the conduct. Class C carries 3 to 15 years.
Which tier the State charges is not a formality. It decides whether this is a misdemeanor resolved in General Sessions or a felony headed to Criminal Court, and the elevating circumstance is provable or it is not. Testing it is often the single most valuable thing done in the case.
The Tracking-Device Rule Most People Have Not Heard
Tennessee amended the stalking statute effective July 1, 2024. Under that amendment, placing an electronic tracking device on a person, or in or on their property, counts as a course of conduct — even on a single occasion. That removes the repetition requirement for that specific act.
This matters enormously in the era of inexpensive item trackers. A tracker placed on a vehicle during a separation, a shared-account device that keeps reporting a location, or a tag dropped in a bag can support a stalking allegation without any pattern of messages at all. It also cuts the other way: whose device it was, who placed it, when, whether the vehicle was jointly owned, and whether the placement was known and agreed to are all concrete, documentable questions.
The Registry Consequence — New Since January 2026
This is the development that changes the stakes, and most people facing a stalking charge have no idea it exists. Under Savanna’s Law, codified at Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 40-39-401 and 40-39-402 and effective January 1, 2026, Tennessee maintains a public, free, searchable Bureau of Investigation registry of repeat domestic violence offenders. Stalking is among the qualifying offenses when committed against a domestic abuse victim.
The mechanics, in plain terms:
- It takes a conviction for a qualifying offense committed on or after January 1, 2026, plus at least one qualifying prior — the prior does not have to post-date the new law.
- Registration runs from the most recent conviction: 5 years with one prior, 7 with two, 10 with three, 20 with four or more.
- Published: name, date of birth, conviction dates, counties, and a photograph. Withheld: address, Social Security, driver’s licence, and federal identification numbers.
- The court will not order registration unless the alleged victim agrees, or is unavailable for that determination. That consent gate is a genuine point of advocacy.
An amendment effective July 1, 2026 clarified the qualifying offenses and how courts identify the priors that set the registration period, and requires clerks to forward final judgments to the Bureau within seven days. The practical takeaway is simple: on a second qualifying case, what is at stake is no longer only the sentence. It is a public listing. That is a reason to take the first case seriously, and a reason not to plead quickly to make a charge go away.
Your Record
Stalking is not named on either diversion exclusion list. Pretrial diversion under T.C.A. § 40-15-105 excludes offenses such as DUI and domestic assault; judicial diversion under T.C.A. § 40-35-313 excludes sexual offenses, DUI, vehicular assault before the minimum is served, and Class A and B felonies. Misdemeanor stalking and the Class E and Class C felony tiers are not excluded by class — though eligibility still requires a qualified defendant, and the seriousness of the allegation shapes what a prosecutor will agree to. A dismissal or completed diversion is expungeable.
Related reading: Memphis domestic assault defense, and recent changes in Tennessee criminal law.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is stalking a felony in Tennessee?
It depends on the tier. Basic stalking is a Class A misdemeanor. Aggravated stalking is a Class E felony carrying 1 to 6 years, and especially aggravated stalking is a Class C felony carrying 3 to 15 years. Which one is charged turns on specific statutory circumstances that can be tested.
How many contacts does it take to be stalking?
The statute requires a course of conduct — repeated or continuing harassment — rather than a fixed number. One important exception applies since July 1, 2024: placing an electronic tracking device on a person or their property counts as a course of conduct even on a single occasion.
Can a stalking conviction put me on a public registry?
It can, in one situation. Under Savanna’s Law, effective January 1, 2026, stalking against a domestic abuse victim is a qualifying offense for Tennessee’s public domestic violence offender registry — but only on a conviction for an offense committed on or after that date where there is also at least one qualifying prior, and only where the alleged victim agrees to registration or is unavailable for that determination.
What if the other person kept contacting me too?
That is often significant. The statute requires conduct a reasonable person would find terrorizing or intimidating and that actually had that effect. Mutual or invited contact, contact about shared children or property, and a complete message history rather than selected excerpts all speak directly to those elements.
Talk to a Memphis Stalking Defense Lawyer
If you have been accused, the most useful thing you can do is preserve everything — full message threads, call logs, and dates — and stop responding. Then call. Brooks Law Firm — (901) 324-5000, or call or text (901) 412-2973. General information only, not legal advice; outcomes depend on the facts of your case.