Tennessee Senate Bills

Hamblen County - Subject to local approval, updates appointment provisions, qualifications, and compensation for the office of county attorney. - Amends Chapter 677 of the Private Acts of 1949; as amended.

Historical Sites and Preservation - As enacted, authorizes local historical boards to lease land owned or managed by such boards for agricultural purposes, with all proceeds received by the boards to be used for the preservation of historic sites and structures. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 11; Title 12; Title 29 and Title 43.

Obion County - Subject to local approval, clarifies that the county highway superintendent of the county highway department be appointed by the county commission pursuant to state law. - Amends the private acts of Obion County.

County Government - As enacted, authorizes a county legislative body operating under the County Purchasing Law of 1957 to set the compensation for the director of accounts and budgets. - Amends TCA Title 5 and Title 8.

Industrial Development - As enacted, revises law relative to industrial development corporations. - Amends TCA Title 7 and Title 48.

Civil Procedure - As enacted, clarifies that the same immunities from civil liability, adverse action, and disciplinary action, and duties, that apply to this state, state employees, public schools, LEAs, public school students, public school teachers, public school employees, public school contractors, public institutions of higher education, public higher education students, public higher education faculty, public higher education employees, and public higher education contractors with regard to the use of a pronoun consistent with an individual's sex applies when using an honorific that is consistent with an individual's sex. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 50; Title 49, Chapter 7, Part 24 and Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 51.

Water - As enacted, authorizes municipal water and sewer systems to undertake certain projects on private property. - Amends TCA Title 7; Title 63; Title 65; Title 68 and Title 69.

Law Enforcement - As introduced, requires TACIR to conduct a study of the salaries and other benefits paid to state and local law enforcement officers in this state. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8; Title 9 and Title 38.

Education, Dept. of - As enacted, requires the department to provide at least one professional development course that provides asynchronous instruction on the use of artificial intelligence in the classroom and that is made available, at no cost, to teachers in grades 6-12; requires such teachers to complete at least one department-approved professional development course on the use of artificial intelligence in the classroom by the later of August 1, 2028, or within two years of becoming licensed as a teacher in this state. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Regional Authorities and Special Districts - As introduced, requires each convention center authority to send an annual audit of the books and records of its authority by January 1 to the governing body of the municipality granting permission to the authority to organize. - Amends TCA Title 7, Chapter 89.

District Attorneys - As introduced, eliminates the fraud and economic crimes fees and assessments in criminal prosecutions for counties that have enacted a $12.50 court cost to be used for supplemental funding for the district attorney general's office; requires existing funds in fraud and economic crimes prosecution fund to be remitted back to the county government of original assessment and collection. - Amends TCA Title 40, Chapter 3.

Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services, Dept. of - As introduced, enacts the "Helping Open Pathways to Effective (HOPE) Treatment Act." - Amends TCA Title 9; Title 33; Title 53; Title 63 and Title 68.

Health Care - As introduced, creates a certification requirement to practice in assisted reproductive technology; requires the department of health to create a certification process for fertility clinics and makes other related changes. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 29; Title 36; Title 63 and Title 68.

Taxes - As enacted, provides that an application for an exemption from property taxation for property owned by a religious, charitable, scientific, or nonprofit educational organization that is filed within 180 days after the exempt use of the property began will be effective as of the date the exempt use began, if the application is made after May 20th of the year for which the exemption is sought, but prior to the end of the year; makes other related changes. - Amends TCA Title 67.

Health, Dept. of - As enacted, requires the department to make available and require educational materials on blood lead level testing for a pregnant woman who receives vouchers for the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children. - Amends TCA Title 37; Title 49; Title 63; Title 68 and Title 71.

Tourism - As introduced, changes, from 90 days after the end of a fiscal year to 60 days after the end of a fiscal year, the deadline for each city levying a tax upon the privilege of occupancy under general law to file a report with the department of tourist development detailing the amount spent by the municipality and how those expenditures have been designated and used for tourism and tourism development. - Amends TCA Title 5; Title 6; Title 7 and Title 67.

Regional Authorities and Special Districts - As enacted, vacates the present board of commissioners of each existing authority for metropolitan and regional airports, and reconstitute a new governing body; makes related changes. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 7 and Title 42.

Sunset Laws - As enacted, extends the Tennessee state veterans' homes board to June 30, 2028; requires the board to report back to the government operations committee by December 31, 2026, to update the committee on its progress in addressing the findings and observations set forth in the December 2025 performance audit report. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 29 and Title 58, Chapter 7.

Taxes, Real Property - As enacted, authorizes, until June 30, 2041, a county or municipality that levies a property tax to pay a property tax refund owed to a taxpayer through annual installments applied as credits against the taxpayer's future property taxes if certain criteria is met. - Amends TCA Title 67.

Schools, Charter - As introduced, allows private postsecondary institutions, including those that are religiously affiliated, to operate a public charter school; allows such institutions to apply to the local board of education or directly to the Tennessee public charter school commission to open a public charter school and to give an enrollment preference to children of the institution's employees or members of its governing body in the same manner afforded to public institutions of higher education. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Education - As introduced, requires public schools to annually submit to the department of education a list of all local assessments administered by the school each year and the administration schedule for each such local assessment; removes the option for a local education agency or public charter school to administer to students a universal screener that is not the universal screener provided by the state; creates the assessment review board composed of nine classroom teachers to review the Tennessee comprehensive assessment program tests administered to students in the most recent school year. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 29 and Title 49.

Computers and Electronic Processing - As enacted, requires TACIR to study artificial intelligence and submit a report to the governor and both speakers by January 31, 2027. - Amends TCA Title 29; Title 33; Title 39 and Title 47.

Education, Dept. of - As introduced, changes from September 1 to December 1 the date by which the department must compile and publish to its website a directory of the name and contact information for the apprenticeship training program contact for each public high school. - Amends TCA Title 4 and Title 49.

Taxes, Exemption and Credits - As introduced, requires the department of revenue to study the potential economic impact of making all excise tax credits transferable to any person or entity, other than the person or entity to whom or to which the credits are initially made; requires the department to report to the finance, ways and means committee of the senate and the committee in the house of representatives having jurisdiction over tax-related matters by December 15, 2026. - Amends TCA Title 67.

Health, Dept. of - As introduced, directs the department to submit a report of each medication approved by the federal food and drug administration (FDA) for the purpose of women's health, including a synopsis of each medication, to the speaker of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives on or before January 1, 2027. - Amends TCA Title 39; Title 53; Title 63 and Title 68.

Local Education Agencies - As introduced, requires each LEA and public charter school to submit an expenditure report to the office of research and education accountability in the office of the comptroller of the treasury and to the department of education by August 1 each year; requires the department to make the expenditure report submitted by each LEA and public charter school available to the public by posting the report on the state report card. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8; Title 49 and Title 67.

Teachers, Principals and School Personnel - As enacted, revises law relative to leave for teachers. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Immigration - As enacted, requires the sheriff of each county to enter into an agreement under an available federal 287(g) program, and expands the powers of the board of control of the Tennessee corrections institute. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 7; Title 8; Title 16; Title 17; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40 and Title 41.

Criminal Procedure - As enacted, revises present law that authorizes the attorney general to bring an action to enforce compliance with the "Tennessee Abortion-Inducing Drug Risk Protocol Act" or intervene as a matter of right in a case in which the constitutionality of such act is challenged. - Amends TCA Title 38; Title 39 and Title 40.

Correctional Programs - As introduced, creates the family advisory board within the department of correction for the purposes of assisting the families of incarcerated individuals. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 29 and Title 41.