SB 1351 - HB 1394
FISCAL NOTE
Fiscal Review Committee
Tennessee General Assembly
March 9, 2025
Fiscal Analyst: Natalie Dusek | Email: natalie.dusek@capitol.tn.gov | Phone: 615-741-2564
SB 1351 - HB 1394
SUMMARY OF BILL: Requires the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) to maintain
with each case file copies of all original investigative materials, including, but not limited to audio
and video files, recordings, transcripts, documents, reports, paperwork, and other print or digital
media generated by the Bureau and germane to an investigation by the Bureau.
FISCAL IMPACT:
STATE GOVERNMENT
EXPENDITURES General Fund
FY25-26 $400,000
FY26-27 & Subsequent Years $150,000
OTHER FISCAL IMPACT
It is estimated that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will require significant additional
recurring funding in future years to accommodate the physical storage requirements of the
legislation. The storage needs and related expenditures will continue to compound each year as
the legislation is assumed to require storage in perpetuity. Storage needs could eventually require
the construction of additional sophisticated storage facilities. Significant additional expenditures
could also be required for digitization services. The extent and timing of the expenditures required
cannot be reasonably determined at this time.
Assumptions:
• The proposed legislation requires the TBI to keep all original investigative materials with
each investigative case file. Such investigative materials include, but are not limited to, audio
and video files, recordings, transcripts, documents, reports, paperwork, and other print or
digital media generated by the Bureau and relevant to an investigation.
• The TBI asserts that retention of paper photocopies and electronic copies of original
investigative materials would also be required under the proposed legislation. The TBI will
require additional physical and electronic storage space to store these materials.
• Four of the TBI’s divisions (Medicaid Fraud Control, Technology & Innovation, Criminal
Investigations, Drug Investigations) operate within eight office locations. The TBI also
operates three lab locations.
SB 1351 - HB 1394 2
• It is estimated that each division within each location will require an additional 300 square
feet of storage space each year, or 10,500 square feet {[(4 divisions x 8 locations) + 3 labs] x
300} beginning at some point in the near future.
• However, at the time of drafting, it was not clear what the current capacity for additional
storage is, what the current policies for storage and purging currently are and how the
legislation affects such, and when exactly the additional physical storage needs will be
necessary.
• The legislation is assumed to require such retention in perpetuity.
• Because of this, the storage needs will continue to compound each year.
• The TBI asserts that eventually the legislation could require the construction of three
sophisticated storage warehouses – one in each of the three grand divisions – at significant
expense.
• The precise increase in expenditures to the TBI required to accommodate the physical
storage needs, and the timing of those expenditures is unclear. It is assumed that the
Bureau can accommodate the legislation’s requirements in this regard in FY25-26 within
existing resources.
• However, it is assumed that the Bureau will need to expand its electronic storage capacity in
FY25-26 at an estimated recurring cost of $150,000 per year in cloud storage under the
relevant vendor. An additional $250,000 will be required for hardware and consulting
services to support the expansion.
• The total increase in expenditures to the TBI is estimated to be $400,000 ($150,000 cloud +
$250,000 hardware and consulting) in FY25-26 and $150,000 (cloud storage) in FY26-27
and subsequent years.
• The TBI may also incur significant future expenditures related to ongoing digitization. The
Bureau is currently under a one-year contract to digitize one division at a cost of $1,500,000.
CERTIFICATION:
The information contained herein is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.
Bojan Savic, Executive Director