Tennessee Senate Bills

Public Officials - As introduced, requires that certain personally identifying information of elected state and local public officials be maintained confidentially with limited exceptions. - Amends TCA Title 2 and Title 10, Chapter 7.

Gaming - As enacted, creates a five-day window after the effective date of this act for nonprofit organizations seeking to operate an annual event for the annual event period beginning on July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027, to submit its annual event application to the secretary of state. - Amends TCA Title 3, Chapter 17.

Education, Dept. of - As enacted, prohibits an individual from serving as a teacher or assistant teacher in a child care program for children who are four or younger unless the individual is at least 18. - Amends TCA Title 49 and Title 71, Chapter 3, Part 5.

Naming and Designating - As enacted, designates the residential burn building located on the campus of the Tennessee fire services and codes enforcement academy as the "Charles 'Charlie' J. Lewis Residential Burn Building." - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 24 and Title 68.

Opioids - As enacted, adds that a healthcare provider who subcontracts through the contracted healthcare vendor with the department of correction may prescribe a buprenorphine product for the treatment of opioid use disorder if other certain listed criteria are met. - Amends TCA Title 53 and Title 63.

Local Government, General - As introduced, requires proposed contingent fee contracts for legal services between a political subdivision of this state and a private-sector attorney to be approved by the attorney general and reporter prior to execution of the contract. - Amends TCA Title 7; Title 8 and Title 29.

Holidays and Days of Special Observance - As enacted, designates October 11 of each year to be observed as "General Pulaski Memorial Day." - Amends TCA Title 15, Chapter 2.

Podiatrists - As enacted, changes the scope of practice of a podiatrist from a person who examines, diagnoses, or treats, in addition to the ailments of the human foot and ankle, the soft tissue of the lower leg distal to the tibial tuberosity, instead of the soft tissue structures extending no higher than the distal tibial metaphyseal flair. - Amends TCA Title 63.

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, creates the Class B misdemeanor offense of interfering with a religious institution if a person acts to intentionally obstruct, disturb, or interfere with the activities of the religious institution by making an utterance, gesture, or display in a manner that is offensive to the sensibilities of an ordinary person, either within the place where the meeting is held or so near it as to disturb the order and solemnity of the activities; defines "religious institution" as a church, temple, synagogue, mosque, or other place of worship. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40.

State Symbols - As enacted, designates and adopts cast iron cookware as the official frontier cookware of this state. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 1, Part 3.

Taxes, Real Property - As introduced, requires a local governmental entity to hold a referendum to approve a property tax increase that exceeds specified thresholds. - Amends TCA Title 48 and Title 67, Chapter 5.

Game and Fish Laws - As enacted, clarifies that local governmental entities shall not regulate the manner and means of taking wildlife, including the discharge of a firearm while lawfully hunting, and that such taking is regulated pursuant to rules promulgated and proclamations issued by the fish and wildlife commission. - Amends TCA Section 39-17-1314; Section 70-1-206 and Section 70-4-107.

Agriculture, Dept. of - As introduced, bases indemnity payments for an animal that is destroyed to prevent the spread of disease on the fair market value of the animal, subject to available funds. - Amends TCA Title 44.

District Attorneys - As introduced, requires TACIR to study and prepare a report on pay equity for assistant district attorneys general in this state. - Amends TCA Title 4 and Title 8, Chapter 7.

Public Records - As enacted, deletes expiration dates for certain public record exemptions. - Amends TCA Section 10-7-504.

Financial Institutions, Dept. of - As enacted, terminates the state credit union share insurance corporation that protects or guarantees shareholdings and deposits of member credit unions against loss; terminates the capital fund held by the corporation that consists of capital contributions and special assessments paid by member credit unions; makes other revisions pertaining to credit unions. - Amends TCA Title 45, Chapter 2; Title 45, Chapter 4 and Title 45, Chapter 7.

DUI Offenses - As introduced, adds a 30-day mandatory minimum period of incarceration for persons convicted of driving under the influence if, at the time of the offense, the person was within a marked school zone and a warning flasher or flashers were in operation. - Amends TCA Title 39; Title 40 and Title 55, Chapter 10.

State Universities - As introduced, requires all gubernatorial appointments to a state university board to be confirmed by joint resolution of the senate and house of representatives prior to commencing a term of office; requires the terms of all state university board members to commence on February 1. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Memorials, Interns - Teria Tibbs -

Memorials, Recognition - Old Church Building, 100th anniversary -

Memorials, Recognition - Nehemiah Alliance -

Memorials, Recognition - Calleigh Phillips, Tennessee 4-H Congress -

Memorials, Recognition - Beau Carroll, DJ Boutwell, JC Owens, and Jasper Weeks of Adamsville High School -

Memorials, Death - James Harding Pratt -

Memorials, Recognition - Adamsville High School band students, Mid-South Honor Band -

Memorials, Congress - Urges Congress to rename Dogwood Lane on federal property at Mountain Home VA the "Congressman Phil Roe Boulevard." -

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, creates a Class A misdemeanor for knowingly giving, selling, lending, delivering, or otherwise transferring a firearm to a person when the transferor knows or reasonably should know that the person receiving the firearm is prohibited from purchasing or possessing a firearm under state or federal law. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13.

Public Employees - As introduced, enacts the "Protecting Religious Liberty and Expression in Public Schools Act." - Amends TCA Title 8; Title 16; Title 20 and Title 49.

Registers of Deeds - As introduced, requires that a deed of conveyance of real property be prepared by an attorney licensed to practice in this state, a title insurance agent licensed in this state, the owner of the real property being transferred, or a person with legal authority to act on behalf of the owner of the real property being transferred; makes other changes related to deeds of conveyance. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 13; Title 23, Chapter 3; Title 66, Chapter 5, Part 1 and Title 66, Chapter 24.

Annexation - As introduced, specifies circumstances in which a referendum will not be required to effectuate annexation of territory; removes repealer provision for exceptions to the referendum requirement. - Amends TCA Section 6-51-104.

Local Education Agencies - As introduced, allows certain school employees to conduct physical searches of students and searches of vehicles, containers, packages, lockers, or other enclosures used for storage by students or visitors in certain circumstances; narrows, from all threats of violence or significantly disruptive behavior at a public school that are reported to a state or local law enforcement agency to only those first determined by the LEA to be credible, the threats or behavior for which an LEA must notify parents and guardians within 48 hours. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 6.

General Assembly, Directed Studies - As introduced, establishes a nine-member Tennessee K-12 nutrition task force to evaluate the prevalence of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and other substances in public school meal programs and the impact of UPFs on student health, to report its findings by December 1, 2026, and to terminate January 31, 2027. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Education, Higher - As introduced, establishes the hunger-free campus grant program; provides grants to higher education institutions to address student hunger. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Public Funds and Financing - As introduced, enacts the "Tennessee Transactional Gold and Silver Act," which recognizes gold and silver as legal tender for private transactions and, when accepted, for paying state and local taxes or fees; authorizes the creation of a secure bullion depository and an electronic payment system to support the use of gold and silver; exempts gold and silver transactions from state and local taxation. - Amends TCA Title 9, Chapter 4.

Memorials, Recognition - Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, 225th anniversary -

Landlord and Tenant - As enacted, generally restricts a landlord from prohibiting a residential tenant from lawfully possessing, carrying, transporting, or storing a firearm, any part of a firearm, or firearm ammunition in the tenant's residential property; a vehicle located in a parking area provided for tenants or tenants' guests; or other locations controlled by the landlord necessary to enter or exit any such location in leases entered into, amended, extended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2026. - Amends TCA Title 66.

Election Laws - As enacted, revises present law that prohibits a person convicted of an infamous crime after May 18, 1981, from being eligible to have the right to vote restored unless the person meets certain requirements, including having been compliant with all child support orders for the previous 12 months, including orders related to child support arrearages. - Amends TCA Title 2 and Title 40.

Criminal Offenses - As enacted, clarifies that a school employee does not commit the criminal offense of falsifying educational and academic documents for altering, creating, or duplicating the grade of a student in an educational or academic document if the alteration, creation, or duplication is due to the student obtaining the grade through a program that allows students to retake a failed course, exam, or assignment and earn credit. - Amends TCA Section 39-14-136 and Title 49.

Traffic Safety - As enacted, exempts utility terrain vehicles being operated for agricultural purposes from the restriction that such vehicles are authorized to operate only on certain state highways and county roads with a speed limit of 45 miles per hour or less. - Amends TCA Section 55-8-185.

Human Rights - As enacted, repeals rules transferred from the defunct human rights commission to the attorney general and reporter; clarifies that complaints filed with the attorney general pursuant to a human rights investigation must not be produced for inspection by or disclosed to a person, other than an authorized representative of the attorney general, without the consent of the person who filed the complaint. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 21.

Motor Vehicles - As enacted, authorizes enforcement of a garagekeeper's lien on a motor vehicle that was stored for the purpose of repairs without express written authorization from the owner for such storage if the garagekeeper makes a good faith attempt to acquire consent prior to repairs and provides notice to the owner by certified mail. - Amends TCA Title 47; Title 55, Chapter 31 and Title 66, Chapter 19.

Utilities, Utility Districts - As enacted, clarifies that commissioners for utility districts created pursuant to the Utility District Law of 1937 in Gibson County are not prohibited from serving more than two consecutive terms. - Amends TCA Title 7, Chapter 82, Part 3.

State Government - As enacted, clarifies that the four trustees for other post-employment benefits may appoint a designee in their absence. - Amends TCA Section 8-27-801.

Drugs, Prescription - As enacted, requires the bureau of TennCare to biannually publish two comprehensive statewide data reports on the use of psychotropic medications and the psychotropic medications' associated costs with certain list categories and data points that must be included in each report. - Amends TCA Title 37; Title 68 and Title 71.

Employees, Employers - As enacted, exempts from the requirement that wages earned by employees in private employment are due and payable no later than the fifth day of the succeeding month those employees who are employed on a piece-work or commission basis, and requires that compensation for such employees is due and payable by the last day of the succeeding month; makes certain other changes relative to employee compensation. - Amends TCA Title 50, Chapter 2, Part 1.

Pensions and Retirement Benefits - As enacted, revises provisions relating to the production of documents in certain proceedings relating to the retirement of a member of the Tennessee consolidated retirement system (TCRS); revises provisions relating to the temporary reemployment of such a member upon retirement. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 25; Title 8, Chapter 34; Title 8, Chapter 35 and Title 8, Chapter 36.

Landlord and Tenant - As enacted, prohibits certain persons from publishing, transmitting, or broadcasting any video of the service of civil process related to an eviction proceeding without the express written permission of the individual being served with civil process; specifies that an individual who is a victim of the publication, transmission, or broadcast of such a video without the individual's permission has a private right of action against the person violating the prohibition. - Amends TCA Title 13; Title 29 and Title 66.

School Transportation - As enacted, authorizes a school bus that is used exclusively to transport students from school to an after-school program to be used until the bus reaches the 20th year from the in-service date of the bus, or until the bus accumulates 300,000 miles of recorded travel, whichever occurs later; requires the owner of a bus that reaches the later of 20 years of service or 300,000 miles of recorded travel to, at the conclusion of the school year, discontinue use of, or replace, the bus; requires certain notice to, and inspections by, the commissioner for certain buses. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Trusts - As enacted, makes various changes regarding trusts and wills, including permitting confidential information related to trusts that is contained in court filings, including court orders, to be redacted or filed under seal without a prior court order. - Amends TCA Title 32; Title 35 and Title 67.

Education, Dept. of - As enacted, allows a local board of education or public charter school governing body that has not received funding from the department for purposes of awarding its teachers the bonus authorized in the Education Freedom Act of 2025 to pass the required resolution and notify the department of the same within 21 calendar days from the date the Act becomes a law, to receive funding from the department to award bonuses to teachers employed in the 2024-2025 school year. - Amends Chapter 7 of the Public Acts of the First Extraordinary Session of 2025.

Sports - As enacted, makes changes relative to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, including reducing membership on the executive committee from seven to six members; adding to board responsibilities by requiring it to direct the mission of the hall of fame; and making other related changes. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 3, Part 54.

Taxes - As enacted, requires a person using a liquified gas propelled motor vehicle to pay the liquified gas tax on delivery of the liquified gas into the vehicle's fuel supply tank instead of prepaying the tax on an annual basis; eliminates the annual renewal requirement for the liquified gas user permit, instead making it a permanent and valid permit dependent on timely reports and remittance of taxes or until surrendered or canceled; makes other tax-related changes. - Amends TCA Title 67, Chapter 1, Part 18; Title 67, Chapter 3, Part 11 and Title 67, Chapter 6.

Human Services, Dept. of - As enacted, deletes the requirements that the department establish, advertise, and maintain a statewide toll-free telephone line to receive and respond to citizen inquiries and complaints concerning child support collections and disbursements and the department establish satellite offices for the state's central collection and disbursement unit. - Amends TCA Section 36-5-118 and Section 36-5-119.

Fire Prevention and Investigation - As enacted, creates the rescue squad grant program to provide annual grants to rescue squads for the purchase of firefighting equipment and training; directs the commissioner of commerce and insurance to evaluate grant requests and select grant award recipients each year. - Amends TCA Title 68, Chapter 102.

Traffic Safety - As enacted, makes changes to the regulation and prohibition authorized by local governments and state agencies relative to class 1, 2, and 3 electric bicycles in certain locations. - Amends TCA Title 55, Chapter 8.

School Transportation - As introduced, allows, as an alternative to undergoing an annual physical and mental examination, a school bus driver to annually verify to the local board of education that they possess a valid certificate issued by a medical examiner certified by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration within the United States department of transportation signifying that the school bus driver is medically qualified to operate a commercial motor vehicle. - Amends TCA Title 49 and Title 55.

State Inmates - As enacted, requires by July 1, 2027, and each July 1 thereafter, the commissioner of correction to deliver to the chairs of legislative committees with jurisdiction over the department of correction a report containing data with regard to individuals who may be certified eligible for parole for being chronically debilitated or incapacitated. - Amends TCA Title 40 and Title 41.

Regional Authorities and Special Districts - As enacted, adds Claiborne, Union, and Grainger counties to the membership of the North East Tennessee Railroad Authority if certain requirements are met; makes other related revisions. - Amends TCA Title 7, Chapter 56, Part 2 and Title 64, Chapter 2.

Consumer Protection - As enacted, removes the requirement that an assurance of voluntary compliance with the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act of 1977 be in writing, and filed and subject to the approval of the circuit or chancery court of Davidson County; makes other changes related to consumer protection. - Amends TCA Title 47.

Appeal and Review - As enacted, expands when the state may appeal an interlocutory order of a circuit or chancery court. - Amends TCA Title 27, Chapter 1.