KFF Health News: Tennessee will Remove Sex Workers with HIV from Sex Offender Registry

The state of Tennessee has agreed to remove sex workers convicted of aggravated prostitution from the state's sex offender registry. This change comes after years of advocacy work and a legal settlement stemming from two separate lawsuits brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and by the ACLU, the ACLU Foundation of Tennessee, and the Transgender Law Center. On July 17, 2024, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed a partial settlement agreement filed in both cases. 

As part of the settlement, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) has agreed to begin the process of removing people from the sex offender registry who were solely required to register as a result of a conviction for aggravated prostitution. The agreement requires that TBI identify these individuals and notify them of the changes to the sex offender registry. The settlement does not remove the crime of aggravated prostitution, it remains a felony offense in Tennessee. 

For more details, read the full article on KFF Health News.