Nashville, TN-The "Robert 'Robbie' Nottingham Campus Crime Scene Investigation Act of 2004" (HB 2753, SB 2797), sponsored by Rep. Nathan Vaughn (D-Kingsport) and Sen. Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville), cleared significant hurdles Tuesday in both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly.

The legislation, named for a student at East Tennessee State University who died on campus last year under mysterious circumstances, is designed to ensure that local police agencies are called in to investigate deaths and rapes on college campuses. It unanimously passed in both the House Criminal Procedure Subcommittee, and the Senate Judiciary Committee. Final passage could occur within three weeks.

Mary Nottingham addresses the Tennessee state Senate Judiciary Committee along with Senator Tim Burchett.

"All the students deserve the right to have a complete investigation," Robbie's mother Mary Nottingham told the Senate Judiciary Committee. Robbie Nottingham died from head trauma, apparently suffered after falling from a balcony at his on-campus apartment last March, but an investigation conducted by the ETSU Department of Public Safety was unable to conclusively determine whether the death was a homicide, suicide, or accident.

"This landmark legislation, the first of its kind in the nation, will help ensure that all necessary resources are brought to bear to investigate these most serious of all campus crimes," said S. Daniel Carter a Knoxville based expert on campus safety, and Vice President of the non-profit organization Security On Campus, Inc. "Once passed into law students on Tennessee's campuses will be better protected, and safer."

Under the legislation college and university police will call in local police agencies to jointly investigate all deaths on campus that do not occur in a hospital or other medically supervised setting, and all alleged rapes. Local police will take the lead on death investigations, and campus police will take lead on rape investigations.

The Nottingham family believes that foul play may have been involved in Robbie's death, and has established a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest, and conviction of anyone responsible for the possible murder. Anyone with information about Robbie's death may report it anonymously by calling 1-888-251-7959 or visiting http://www.robbienottingham.com/.

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