Tennessee launches US’s first public database tracking domestic abusers

Tennessee launched the country’s first-ever public database tracking and listing convicted domestic abusers as part of a ratified law honoring a sheriff’s deputy who was murdered by her abusive ex-boyfriend.

The database, which officially launched on Jan. 1, includes offenders’ names, photos and dates of birth and is part of Savanna’s Law. The bill was signed into law by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in May 2025 and required the state to establish the registry in Savanna Puckett’s name.

Puckett, a 22-year-old Robertson County Sheriff’s deputy, was tragically killed by her ex-boyfriend, James Conn, at her home on Jan. 23, 2022. Conn had a lengthy history of domestic assault arrests that Puckett had no knowledge of before they began dating.

Conn shot Puckett in the torso and head before he set her home on fire. He pleaded guilty to her murder in August 2023 and was sentenced to life in prison.

Puckett’s distraught mother, Kim Dodson, was determined to save other domestic abuse victims from her daughter’s fate and began pushing state lawmakers for change.

She was a staunch advocate for the bill’s passage and said that if the registry had existed sooner, her daughter might still be alive.

“I was just horrified when I finally saw all those records because I know Savanna well enough that she would have never dated him. I honestly, honestly, honestly feel that if she had known that she could still be here,” Dodson told WSMV.

The domestic abuser registry is run through the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and lists anyone in the state who has been convicted of at least two domestic violence-related charges, according to the website.

However, the offender’s registration is dependent on the accusing victim. If the victim doesn’t consent to their abuser’s name being included, then the offender can bypass the registry.

The database doesn’t include info on offenders convicted before the new year, so the current list is limited. But it was made in the mirror image of the state’s sex offender registry, which is more fleshed out with decades-worth of listings.

The sex offender registry includes a rolling queue of “wanted violators” and a “map of offenders.”

Tennessee has previously ranked among the top 10 states with the most domestic violence homicides. In 2019, it tied for fifth with South Carolina in a separate list detailing the states with the highest femicide rates, WTVF reported.