Some weird Tennessee laws are genuinely on the books and genuinely enforceable: you can lose the right to hold public office for fighting a duel, you can’t own a pet skunk, and liquor stores shut down entirely on three specific holidays. Others that circulate online, like the Netflix password law or the ice cream cone in your back pocket, aren’t real at all. Here’s what’s actually in the Tennessee Code, and what someone made up.
Fight a Duel, Lose Your Office
Article IX, Section 3 of the Tennessee Constitution disqualifies anyone who fights a duel, carries a challenge to fight one, or helps arrange one from holding any “office of honor or profit” in the state. The legislature is also authorized to pile on additional punishment.1Justia Law. Tennessee Constitution Article IX – Disqualifications – Section 3
The clause goes back to the original 1835 constitution, when dueling among politicians was a real worry. The practice died out generations ago, but the constitutional language was never scrubbed. Every person elected in Tennessee is technically still bound by it.
No Pet Skunks, Anywhere in the State
Tennessee law makes it illegal to import, own, buy, or trade a live skunk. The only carve-outs are for accredited zoos, research institutions, and licensed wildlife rehabilitators working to release skunks back into the wild.2Justia Law. Tennessee Code 70-4-208 – Unlawful Importation of Skunks – Penalty
The reason is public health: skunks are a primary rabies carrier. The absolute nature of the ban still surprises people, since Tennessee is relaxed about hedgehogs and sugar gliders.
Your Passenger Can Legally Drink in a Moving Car
Tennessee’s open container law prohibits only the driver from possessing an open container of alcohol while operating a motor vehicle. Passengers face no state-level restriction.3Justia Law. Tennessee Code 55-10-416 – Open Container Law
Cities and counties can pass their own ordinances banning passenger open containers, so the rule shifts depending on where you’re driving. As a matter of state law, though, a passenger can crack a beer on a rural highway without breaking any rule, provided the driver doesn’t touch it.
Roadkill Is Yours to Take Home
A popular belief holds that eating roadkill is illegal in Tennessee. The opposite is true. Under Tennessee Code § 70-4-115, a wild animal accidentally killed by a vehicle can be taken for personal use and consumption.
There are a few conditions. If you pick up a deer, you have to notify the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency or a law enforcement officer within 48 hours and give your name and address. A bear requires an actual kill tag issued by a TWRA enforcement officer before you can take it. But the basic idea of hitting a deer and loading it into your truck for dinner is fully legal.
Alcohol Sales Have Specific Hours and Three Blackout Days
Tennessee restricted all Sunday alcohol sales for decades, and the remaining rules are oddly precise. Retail liquor stores can sell between 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. On Sundays the window shrinks to 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. All retail alcohol sales are banned entirely on Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter.4Justia Law. Tennessee Code 57-3-406 – Regulation of Retail Sales
Wine in grocery stores runs on a parallel track. Retail food stores can sell wine from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Sundays, and grocery store wine sales are also prohibited on Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter.5Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Frequently Asked Questions When Easter lands on a Sunday, both restrictions stack.
Spitting on the Sidewalk Is Still Banned in Some Cities
Several Tennessee municipalities still have ordinances making it illegal to spit on a public street, sidewalk, or inside any public building.6Collierville, Tennessee Code of Ordinances. Collierville Tennessee Code of Ordinances – 130.063 Spitting These were public health measures from eras when tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases spread through exactly that behavior. The laws remain on the books even though enforcement is essentially nonexistent.
Weird Tennessee Laws That Aren’t Real
A good share of the “weird Tennessee laws” that circulate online are completely fabricated. The biggest offenders are worth clearing up.
The Netflix Password Law
A widely shared claim holds that Tennessee made it illegal to share your Netflix or streaming service password. The statute usually cited, Tennessee Code § 39-14-154, has nothing to do with streaming services or passwords. It covers home improvement contractor fraud: situations where a roofer or remodeler takes your money and either doesn’t do the work or deviates from the contract.7Justia Law. Tennessee Code 39-14-154 – Actions by Home Improvement Services Provider That Constitute Offense Tennessee has broader computer crime statutes about unauthorized access, but no Tennessee law was written to target sharing a streaming login with your cousin.
The Ice Cream Cone in Your Back Pocket
The story goes that in Nashville it’s illegal on Sundays to carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket, supposedly a trick once used to lure horses for theft. This is urban legend. No Tennessee statute, Nashville ordinance, or historical legal record supports it. The same claim circulates about Alabama, Georgia, and Kentucky, which is usually a sign no one can pin it to a real jurisdiction.
Firing a Slingshot from a Car
Claims that Tennessee specifically bans firing a slingshot from a vehicle are another fabrication. The state’s weapons statute covers firearms and clubs carried with intent to go armed, and deadly weapons used during a crime.8Justia Law. Tennessee Code 39-17-1307 – Unlawful Carrying or Possession of a Weapon A slingshot doesn’t appear in the statute. Firing one recklessly from a car could in theory fall under reckless driving or reckless endangerment, but there’s no slingshot-specific prohibition.9Justia Law. Tennessee Code 55-10-205 – Reckless Driving
Fishing with a Lasso
Another popular claim says Tennessee banned fishing with a lasso. No such statute exists. The state regulates fishing methods through its wildlife resources laws, but lasso fishing didn’t make the list, probably because it was never a real problem that needed solving.