- A Tennessee trooper was retrained after several sober DUI arrests.
- Internal emails show supervisors told him to keep working.
- Three federal lawsuits followed clean blood test results.
Police are meant to protect and serve the community. That includes finding drivers under the influence and getting those individuals off the roads. In Tennessee, an unsettling issue is starting to detract from that work. Troopers are arresting sober drivers for DUI. New communications show that officers are getting retrained as a result. On top of that, the state faces multiple lawsuits while lawmakers scramble.
More: Sober Drivers Are Getting Arrested For DUI And The Reason Will Make You Furious
According to emails obtained by WSMV4, at least one officer with a record of eight sober arrests for DUI had to get retrained. That trooper is James Zahn, and he went through four hours of retraining after media reports identified yet another case where a driver he arrested had no alcohol or drugs in their system.
The retraining came as public scrutiny intensified and as state officials, including the governor’s office, monitored the situation behind the scenes.
Internal Emails Raise Scrutiny
In a June 2025 email, a supervisor warned troopers that the media was “closely scrutinizing” DUI enforcement and told them to follow training exactly to avoid lawsuits or discipline. Zahn acknowledged the message. After reporting revealed multiple sober arrests tied to Zahn, another supervisor encouraged him to stay the course, writing: “Keep doing the job the way you have been instructed.”
The emails also show THP recorded a video response addressing the controversy, but the governor’s office reviewed it and chose not to release it publicly. State attorneys have since denied requests for the video. Three people arrested by Zahn have now filed federal lawsuits, including former U.S. Attorney Jane Bondurant, along with two Tennessee residents. All three had blood tests showing no drugs or alcohol.
Legislative Response Begins
All of this comes as a larger investigation into the situation has led to legislative change. One new law already put into place requires the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to track the amount of sober drivers arrested for DUI each year and keep track of which agencies made those arrests. Now, a new bill is in motion as a result of the entire sober DUI arrest situation.
The new proposal would allow out-of-state drivers to obtain their Tennessee arrest records, something current law does not allow. The issue surfaced after an Alabama woman arrested while sober could not access her own report because she wasn’t a Tennessee resident.
The bill has passed the Tennessee Senate and will now move through the rest of the legislative process, while the lawsuits against Zahn continue in federal court.
Photos Tennessee Highway Patrol