Tennessee Bills

Memorials, Sports - Cecilio Rodriguez, All-County football team -

Memorials, Sports - Tyson Sutton, All-County football team -

Memorials, Sports - Elijah Spence, All-County football team -

Memorials, Sports - Brayden Maples, All-County football team -

Memorials, Sports - Jerry Maynord, Tennessee Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame -

Memorials, Recognition - Putnam County Chamber of Commerce, 80th anniversary -

Memorials, Congratulations - Cathy Kolb -

Memorials, Sports - Grassland Middle School Game Day Cheer Team, national champions -

Memorials, Retirement - Irene Ward -

Memorials, Death - Frederick Dale "Freddie" Harvey -

General Assembly, Confirmation of Appointment - Dr. Clay R. Good, public utility commission -

General Assembly, Confirmation of Appointment - Dr. Randall Davis, University of Tennessee Health Science Center Advisory Board -

Memorials, Recognition - Safari Club International Day, February 18, 2026 -

Law Enforcement - As introduced, requires a law enforcement officer who becomes aware that an order of protection has been entered against a person in the officer’s presence but has not been served on the person to take appropriate steps to facilitate service of the order of protection, including notifying the sheriff’s department of the person’s immediate location; requires the curriculum of the Tennessee peace officer standards and training commission to include instruction on such requirements. - Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 3, Part 6; Title 38 and Title 40.

Mental Illness - As introduced, establishes a rebuttable presumption that a person poses an imminent substantial likelihood of serious harm and needs emergency detention and examination if the person was charged with one of certain criminal offenses and ordered by the criminal, circuit, or general sessions court to undergo an evaluation to determine whether the person is incompetent to stand trial or the person's mental capacity at the time of the commission of the crime; requires clear and convincing evidence to rebut the presumption. - Amends TCA Title 33; Title 40 and Title 52.

Bail, Bail Bonds - As introduced, requires a court or magistrate to impose global positioning monitoring as a condition of release for a defendant accused of certain offenses, unless the court or magistrate enters written findings that the defendant does not pose a threat to the victim or public safety; requires the administrative office of the courts to compile an annual report of the number of defendants subject to such an order. - Amends TCA Title 39; Title 40 and Title 55.

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, adds to the criminal offense of aggravated assault, an assault that involves brandishing a deadly weapon; defines brandish to mean waving or exhibiting a weapon in a manner that would be found by a reasonable person to indicate a threat to use the weapon. - Amends TCA Title 39.

Privacy, Confidentiality - As introduced, enacts the "Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act"; creates a Class B misdemeanor offense for officers, employees, or contractors of a state agency or local governmental entity that is required by law to be issued a warrant prior to obtaining personal information or sensitive data about an individual to knowingly purchase, license, or otherwise obtain the personal information or sensitive data from a controller in lieu of the warrant requirement. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 39 and Title 47.

Criminal Procedure - As introduced, allows a misdemeanor offender to petition to have the offender's criminal history records sealed after completion of all requirements of sentencing and at least five years without being convicted of a new offense; excludes domestic assault and driving under the influence from eligibility to be sealed. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40.

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, increases the amount of marijuana that may be possessed, from one-half ounce to five ounces, for it to be considered a small amount of marijuana and punishable as a Class A misdemeanor; revises penalty to make it punishable by a $500 fine for a first offense and a $1,000 fine for a second or subsequent offense. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 17.

Probation and Parole - As introduced, specifies that if the trial judge finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant has violated conditions of probation and suspension of sentence for a felony offense by engaging in conduct that constitutes a drug offense, then for the first instance of such a violation, the trial judge must order the defendant to attend a substance abuse treatment program and must not revoke the defendant's probation and suspension of sentence. - Amends TCA Title 40, Chapter 35.

Law Enforcement - As introduced, requires a law enforcement agency that uses body cameras to adopt a written policy for the use of the cameras by its law enforcement officers; establishes certain requirements for the policies. - Amends TCA Title 38, Chapter 1.

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, enacts "The Intercollegiate Student-Athlete Protection Act," which creates a criminal offense of student athlete harassment; punishes the first offense as a Class A misdemeanor and a second or subsequent offense as a Class E felony; and specifies that a student athlete who is the victim of student athlete harassment has a private right of action against a person convicted of the offense. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 49; Title 39 and Title 49.

Bail, Bail Bonds - As introduced, makes various changes to criminal law, including requiring defendants accused of certain offenses to be subject to a global positioning monitoring system as condition of bail. - Amends TCA Title 10; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40; Chapter 969 of the Public Acts of 2024 and Chapter 1033 of the Public Acts of 2024.

Children - As introduced, authorizes a juvenile court to order a child who is accused of being delinquent or unruly and released prior to a hearing to wear a global positioning monitoring system device; if the court issues such an order, requires the entity operating the global positioning monitoring system to notify the probation officer or other entity ordered to take charge of the child if the child violates the instructions issued by the court upon release; requires students who are expelled for committing a zero tolerance offense for threatening mass violence on school property or at a school-related activity to undergo counseling and a mental health evaluation before returning to school. - Amends TCA Title 37; Title 39; Title 40, Chapter 11 and Title 49.

Sentencing - As introduced, requires a local community corrections advisory board to provide its annual report to the county legislative body on the progress of community corrections programs by February 1 of each year. - Amends TCA Title 8; Title 16; Title 37; Title 39; Title 40 and Title 41.

Memorials, Recognition - Officer Michael J. Douglas -

Taxes, Alcoholic Beverages - As introduced, deletes an obsolete provision relating to a tax credit for beer or ale that was destroyed in a flood occurring between May 1, 2010, and May 8, 2010. - Amends TCA Title 57 and Title 67.

Energy - As introduced, requires an applicant and an electric utility service to perform and submit to the locality a site assessment prior to the approval of a rezoning request, special exception, or special use permit for the siting of a new high energy use facility (HEUF). - Amends TCA Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 13; Title 54; Title 65 and Title 68.

Housing - As introduced, enacts the "Affordable Housing and Tenant Protection Act"; allows local governments to adopt ordinances and resolutions to control rent for private residential rental units; creates the increased housing program and increased housing fund; authorizes the Tennessee housing development agency to make grants from the fund to eligible developers and first-time homebuyers to assist in gap financing and down payment assistance. - Amends TCA Title 7, Chapter 53; Title 9; Title 12; Title 13; Title 66 and Title 67.

Election Laws - As introduced, requires county election commissions to include three non-binding questions related to the legalization of marijuana on the November 2026 ballot; requires the secretary of state to compile the results of the non-binding, advisory referendum, publish the results on the secretary of state's website, and forward the results to the members of the general assembly. - Amends TCA Title 2.

Firearms and Ammunition - As introduced, prohibits the possession of an assault weapon; directs those in possession of an assault weapon before July 1, 2025, to apply for a certificate of possession; creates the Class E felony offense of purchasing, selling, possessing, or using a part, component, device, or attachment designed to accelerate the fire of a semiautomatic rifle and makes any semiautomatic rifle that includes an accelerated fire part, component, or device a prohibited weapon. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 54; Section 38-3-119 and Title 39, Chapter 17.

Safety, Dept. of - As introduced, enacts the “Oral-Fluid DUI Testing and Evidence-Based Enforcement Safeguards Act." - Amends TCA Title 55, Chapter 10, Part 4.

Planning, Public - As introduced, enacts the "Electric Grid Resilience, Transparency, and Planning Act." - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 13; Title 58 and Title 65.

Immigration - As introduced, prohibits the bureau of immigration and customs enforcement of the United States department of homeland security from entering into and conducting law enforcement activities in a healthcare facility, physician's office, or a shelter located in this state. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 33; Title 38; Title 52; Title 63; Title 68 and Title 71.

Safety - As introduced, requires newly installed storm drains and culverts constructed after July 1, 2026, to be equipped with a safety cover or grate if the opening is large enough that a child could reasonably fall into or become trapped within the structure. - Amends TCA Title 12 and Title 68.

Criminal Procedure - As introduced, changes from April 1 to April 30, the date by which a county legislative body must submit to the judges of the general sessions criminal court of the county and the chairs of the legislative committees having jurisdiction over criminal matters a written report setting forth findings and the overall evaluation of the use of judicial commissioners. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40.

Immigration - As introduced, affords an individual detained pursuant to a federal detention agreement certain rights while detained. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 7; Title 10; Title 38; Title 39 and Title 40.

Registers of Deeds - As introduced, creates a two-year pilot program that requires the register of deeds in Shelby County to verify and record the government-issued photo identification of individuals presenting documents for in-person property transfers. - Amends TCA Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 10; Title 66 and Title 67.

Taxes, Ad Valorem - As introduced, establishes limitations on the property tax rates set by a county or municipality. - Amends TCA Title 67, Chapter 5.

Election Laws - As introduced, requires a county election commission, upon receipt of a bona fide complaint of a violation of a person's right to vote in an election, to document the details of the complaint and electronically submit the complaint to the state election commission. - Amends TCA Title 2; Title 4; Title 8; Title 29; Title 39 and Title 41.

Jails, Local Lock-ups - As introduced, specifies that a jailer's authorization to evaluate a person confined in the county jail for purposes of the person's care includes evaluating the person's need for medical attention. - Amends TCA Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8, Chapter 8; Title 29; Title 40 and Title 41.

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, increases the penalty for vehicular homicide from a Class C felony to a Class B felony if the offense occurred as the proximate result of the driver's extreme and excessive rate of speed; defines "extreme and excessive rate of speed" as traveling at more than 20 miles per hour over the posted speed limit. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 55.

Annexation - As introduced, requires a municipality to obtain approval of a proposed annexation from the county legislative body; requires the municipality to submit certain reports to the county legislative body regarding the proposed annexation. - Amends TCA Title 6, Chapter 51, Part 1.

Public Records - As introduced, specifies that certain information related to the carrying out of a sentence of death is not confidential and is open to public inspection. - Amends TCA Title 10, Chapter 7.

Real Property - As introduced, makes void and unenforceable any restrictions on the operation of a family child care home or group child care home that may be in a homeowners' association declaration that applies to a property where a family child care home or group child care home is or will be sited by the property owner; makes other changes relative to restrictions on the use of real property. - Amends TCA Title 66.

County Government - As introduced, increases from two to three days, the minimum notice period required for a county mayor to convene a special session of the county legislative body for emergency purposes. - Amends TCA Title 5 and Title 6.

Planning, Public - As introduced, requires an establishment resolution adopted by the governing body of a municipality to form an infrastructure development district to include an itemization of the funded costs for infrastructure related to each utility service that will serve the development district. - Amends TCA Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 13; Title 65 and Title 66.

State Government - As introduced, enacts the "DEI Compliance Certification Act." - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8 and Title 49.

Public Contracts - As introduced, requires a tire manufacturer or supplier responding to a solicitation to bid with this state, or who has an existing contract with this state, to indicate each tire, by product, and material number, that is manufactured with 100 percent French process zinc oxide. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 9 and Title 12.

Election Laws - As introduced, enacts the "Election Integrity Act of 2026"; creates a process by which a candidate in a local election may challenge the results of the election prior to certification of the election if the candidate has reason to believe errors were made in the adminstration of the election. - Amends TCA Title 2 and Title 49.

Taxes, Real Property - As introduced, requires a written notice of the intended seizure of personal property given by the county trustee, deputy trustee, or delinquent tax attorney that is mailed to the taxpayer's last known address be provided by certified, registered, or first class mail. - Amends TCA Title 67, Chapter 5.

Utilities, Utility Districts - As introduced, requires certain data centers to register with the department of revenue; requires fuel suppliers, and electric and water utilities that provide fuel and service respectively to registered data centers to report usage and rates to the department; requires the commissioner to compile and publish certain information based on reports received from utilities. - Amends TCA Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 10; Title 62; Title 65; Title 68 and Title 69.

Election Laws - As introduced, requires the secretary of state to direct each county election commission to place a ballot question on the ballot for the November general election in 2026 asking voters whether this state should legalize the sale, possession, and use of medical cannabis. - Amends TCA Title 2.

Natural Disasters - As introduced, requires TACIR to perform a comprehensive evaluation on the preparedness and response of local and state officials, departments, and agencies to the Hurricane Helene natural disaster. - Amends TCA Title 3; Title 4, Chapter 10 and Title 58.

Safety, Dept. of - As introduced, enacts the "One America Act," which requires every person who has resided in this state for a period of more than 30 days and who is not lawfully present in the United States to register and submit to an interview with the department at which time the department may issue the person a one-year visa for re-entry into the United States and to this state; if the person does not commit a criminal offense within such one-year period, the person is eligible to apply for permanent resident status upon completion of the one-year period. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8 and Title 39.

Taxes, Real Property - As introduced, limits the setting of the tax rate on property by a county, municipality, metropolitan government, or other taxing entity in any fiscal year at a rate that would render in total receipts from all levies an amount more than the receipts from that source from the immediately preceding fiscal year for the county, municipality, metropolitan government, or other taxing jurisdiction, plus an additional 2 percent, subject to certain exceptions; establishes a procedure by which the 2 percent increase may be exceeded by passage of a referendum. - Amends TCA Title 67, Chapter 5.

Election Laws - As introduced, authorizes senators who have served for at least eight consecutive years and representatives who have served for at least 10 consecutive years to use signatures of registered voters outside of such senator's or representative's district for purposes of completing a nominating petition. - Amends TCA Title 2.

Prisons and Reformatory Institutions - As introduced, prohibits this state or a local government from entering into a new contract or renewing an existing contract for the provision of correctional services for an inmate under the custody and care of the department of correction or the local government. - Amends TCA Title 41, Chapter 24.

Immigration - As introduced, enacts the “Tennessee Freedom from Unlawful Immigration Detention Act.” - Amends TCA Title 7; Title 8; Title 38; Title 40 and Title 41.