Tennessee Senate Bills

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, increases the penalty for criminal impersonation of a law enforcement officer from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony if the offense occurs while the defendant is committing or attempting to commit a crime of violence. - Amends TCA Title 38; Title 39 and Title 40.

Zoning - As introduced, removes requirement that a structure rebuilt on a site must conform to the zoning regulations existing at the time of the new construction. - Amends TCA Title 13, Chapter 7.

Taxes, Sales - As introduced, enacts the "Healthy Tennessee Grocery Tax Reform of 2026." - Amends TCA Title 67, Chapter 6.

Memorials, Recognition - Nehemiah Alliance -

General Assembly, Statement of Intent or Position - Recognizes the first Thursday in May each year as the "National Day of Prayer." -

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.

Industrial Development - As introduced, removes restriction prohibiting county officers from serving on industrial development corporation boards; adds county assessor of property and county trustee as members of such boards. - Amends TCA Title 7, Chapter 53.

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.

Public Officials - As introduced, requires certain public officials and their spouses to divest certain assets or place such assets in a blind trust by a date certain. - Amends TCA Title 2; Title 3; Title 4; Title 8 and Title 48.

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.

General Assembly - As introduced, enacts the "Restoring State Sovereignty Through Nullification Act," which establishes processes by which the general assembly may nullify an unconstitutional federal statute, regulation, agency order, or executive order. - Amends TCA Title 3 and Title 4.

Boards and Commissions - As introduced, increases, from 90 to 95, the number of days that the board of directors for a municipal energy authority has to fill a board vacancy created by the death, resignation, or removal of any director and gain approval of the applicable governing body. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 9; Title 12; Title 13; Title 48; Title 50; Title 64; Title 65 and Title 67.

Correction, Dept. of - As introduced, prohibits governmental entities from preventing certain persons from entering correctional institutions used to house aliens for the purpose of conducting oversight. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 3, Part 6; Title 4, Chapter 4; Title 39; Title 40 and Title 41.

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.

Judicial Districts - As introduced, requires the advisory task force to review composition of judicial districts to submit its findings and recommendations by January 15, 2027, rather than January 1, 2027. - Amends TCA Title 16.

Veterans Services, Dept. of - As introduced, requires the department to submit a report on the total number of state and federal benefits, and a synopsis of each benefit, available to a veteran and the veteran's surviving spouse to the speaker of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives on or before January 1, 2027. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 52; Title 68 and Title 71.

Ethics - As introduced, enacts the "Foreign Agent Registration Act." - Amends TCA Title 3, Chapter 6 and Title 4.

State Government - As introduced, enacts the "Critical Infrastructure Protection Act" and the "Protection of State Land from Foreign Adversaries Act." - Amends TCA Title 12, Chapter 3 and Title 66, Chapter 2.

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.

State Employees - As introduced, requires certain government employers to provide job-protected unpaid leave for a qualifying medical emergency to employees that meet certain criteria. - Amends TCA Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 49 and Title 50.

Pensions and Retirement Benefits - As introduced, enacts the "Supporting Troopers though Advanced Retirement (STAR) Act"; authorizes current state troopers to elect to participate in an alternative defined benefit retirement plan that offers enhanced benefits; authorizes state troopers participating in the alternative plan to elect to defer retirement and continue working full-time for up to eight years while their retirement benefits are deposited into an interest-bearing account until they elect to retire. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 7 and Title 8.

State Government - As introduced, enacts the "No Corporate Land Giveaways Act." - Amends TCA Title 3; Title 4; Title 8 and Title 12.

General Assembly - As introduced, requires a state governmental entity to disclose records and information to a member of the general assembly to enable the member to determine whether the laws of this state are being complied with and to determine whether the laws of this state need to be changed in accordance with certain procedures. - Amends TCA Title 3; Title 4 and Title 10, Chapter 7, Part 5.

General Assembly - As introduced, requires the speakers of the senate and house of representatives to determine an equivalent number of legislative conferences, or number of legislative conference days, for which a member of the senate or house of representatives is entitled to attend for purposes of receiving expense and mileage allowances. - Amends TCA Title 3, Chapter 1.

General Assembly - As introduced, beginning November 3, 2026, increases the monthly office expense allowance to $2,251; requires such allowance to be adjusted monthly based on the consumer price index. - Amends TCA Title 3.

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.

Public Records - As introduced, requires the department of correction to disclose records and information to any member of the general assembly, upon written request, to enable the member to determine whether the laws of this state are being complied with regarding inmates in the department's custody. - Amends TCA Title 3; Title 4; Title 10, Chapter 7; Title 40 and Title 41.

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.

Election Laws - As introduced, prohibits a person from qualifying as a candidate in a primary election for federal office who holds dual citizenship or is not a natural-born citizen of the United States. - Amends TCA Title 2.

General Assembly - As introduced, authorizes the chair of a committee of the general assembly to require an executive branch employee to take an oath prior to testifying before the committee subject to the penalty of perjury; authorizes the chair of a committee or the executive director of fiscal review to require any documentation submitted by such employee for the purpose of evaluating the merits of a legislative measure or generating a fiscal note to submit an affidavit with such documentation attesting to the accuracy of the information subject to the penalty of perjury. - Amends TCA Title 3; Title 4; Title 29; Title 39 and Title 40.

Taxes, Ad Valorem - As introduced, clarifies that a notification sent by email from the assessor to a taxpayer of a change in the classification or assessed valuation of the taxpayer's property is effective when electronically sent. - Amends TCA Title 67, Chapter 5.

Public Officials - As introduced, authorizes recall elections for elected members of a local legislative body, city and county mayors, sheriffs, trustees, registers, clerks, assessors of property, and members of a school board. - Amends TCA Title 2; Title 8, Chapter 47 and Title 49, Chapter 2.

Firearms and Ammunition - As introduced, enacts "Akilah's Law," which creates the offense of selling, offering to sell, delivering, or transferring a firearm to a person knowing the person has been a patient in a mental institution at any time within the previous five years. - Amends TCA Title 33 and Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13.

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.

State Government - As introduced, prohibits a person, political subdivision, or public official, in connection with a state emergency, from categorizing or proclaiming by order, rule, or regulation that a lawful occupation is non-essential, or otherwise proclaiming by order, rule, or regulation that a lawful occupation is prohibited from operating based on what the lawful occupation is; specifies that a person harmed by a violation of the prohibition may bring a civil action for actual damages or declaratory relief. - Amends TCA Title 58, Chapter 2.

Election Laws - As introduced, makes changes to the process for voting absentee under the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. - Amends TCA Title 2, Chapter 6, Part 5.

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.

Election Laws - As introduced, enacts the "Tennessee Ballot Access Act." - Amends TCA Title 2.

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.

Controlled Substances - As introduced, enacts the "Pot for Potholes Act"; establishes a regulatory structure for the cultivation, processing, and retail sale of marijuana and marijuana products in this state to be administered by the department of agriculture. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 29; Title 33; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40; Title 41; Title 43; Title 45; Title 50; Title 53; Title 54; Title 63; Title 67; Title 68 and Title 71.

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.

Holidays and Days of Special Observance - As introduced, enacts the "No Pride Flag or Month Act." - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 15; Title 20 and Title 49.

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.