Tennessee Senate Bills

Employees, Employers - As enacted, allows for eligible employees to be absent 4 weeks from work following a living organ donation surgery; requires the department of health to create living organ donor informational material and make such material available on the department's website. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8; Title 50; Title 56 and Title 68.

Education, Dept. of - As enacted, requires the department to develop guidance for Tennessee accelerating literacy and learning corps (TALLC) members on how to align tutoring services for students with the remediation the student needs and with the academic standards adopted by the state board of education for the student's grade level; requires the department to provide LEAs with a list of secure data management systems that utilize platforms capable of tracking the effectiveness of intervention methods, resource allocation, and student progress in real time across all schools in the LEA; makes other related changes. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) - As enacted, makes various changes to the TISA review committee, including, but not limited to, clarifying that the committee may convene a meeting with a majority of all members present, including one or more designees, but a quorum of all voting members of the committee is required to transact any business requiring a formal vote of the committee. - Amends TCA Section 49-3-113.

Medical Occupations - As enacted, enacts the "Tennessee K-9 Emergency Medical Care and Transport Act." - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 14, Part 2; Title 44, Chapter 17; Title 63, Chapter 12 and Title 68, Chapter 140.

Education - As enacted, changes, from the department of education to the state board of education upon the recommendation of the department, the party responsible for selecting the intervention option for priority schools receiving tier three interventions through the progressive tiered intervention system. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Remedies and Special Proceedings - As enacted, creates a civil action for individuals who are the subject of an intimate image that is intentionally disclosed without the individual's consent under certain circumstances. - Amends TCA Title 28 and Title 39, Chapter 17.

Healthcare Liability - As enacted, authorizes a person to bring a civil action against a healthcare professional for an injury that is a result of a medical procedure, if the procedure was for enabling the person to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the person's sex or treating purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the person's sex and asserted identity, and the person consented; or if the person was a minor at the time of the procedure, the person's parent, guardian, or representative consented due to an act of coercion by the professional. - Amends TCA Title 29; Title 63 and Title 68.

Tourist Development, Dept. of - As enacted, requires the department to annually confirm the nonprofit, membership-based organizations or tax-exempt public agencies to act as regional tourism organizations for each of the nine development districts; requires department approval of regional tourism organization's planned marketing initiatives prior to the organization receiving matching state funds; provides definitions related to tourism. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 3, Part 22.

Fairs - As enacted, enacts the "Tennessee Agricultural Fair and Livestock Show Act" and the "Tennessee State Fair Act." - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 57; Title 43, Chapter 21 and Section 48-101-502.

Education - As enacted, enacts the "Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act." - Amends TCA Title 49.

Education - As enacted, requires public high schools to provide students who are enrolled in a United States government and civics course the opportunity to participate in three civic engagement field days and similar opportunities, one for each branch of government, to observe each branch of government. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Commerce and Insurance, Dept. of - As enacted, directs the commissioner to use existing resources to study recent innovations by neighboring states to address substance use disorder through new health insurance coverage and reimbursement methods, strategies, or models; requires the commissioner to compile the findings and any recommendations from the study into a report for transmission to the general assembly no later than December 31, 2026. - Amends TCA Title 8; Title 33; Title 56 and Title 71.

Open Meetings - As enacted, adds the governing body of a local education agency and certain other local governing bodies of a public body with the authority to make binding decisions or the ability to appropriate funds to the list of governing bodies that are required to make meeting agendas available to the public in advance of such meetings. - Amends TCA Section 8-44-110.

Agriculture - As enacted, makes various changes relative to the regulation of hemp-derived cannabinoid products. - Amends TCA Title 1, Chapter 3; Title 39; Title 43, Chapter 27; Title 53; Title 57, Chapter 7 and Title 67, Chapter 6.

Health Care - As enacted, adds clinical informatics, lifestyle medicine, and medical virtualist to the list of words or abbreviations that a person may attach to a name to indicate or induce another person to believe that the person is engaged in the practice of medicine or osteopathic medicine. - Amends TCA Title 63, Chapter 6 and Title 63, Chapter 9.

Holidays and Days of Special Observance - As enacted, designates May 1 of each year as "Law Day." - Amends TCA Title 15, Chapter 2.

Boats, Boating - As enacted, creates the Class C misdemeanor offense of mooring a recreational vessel for more than 14 consecutive days at any one place along the water's edge of a reservoir or at any place within one mile of the water's edge; makes other related revisions. - Amends TCA Title 69, Chapter 9.

Welfare - As enacted, makes various changes to law relative to respite care services, including, but not limited to, increasing the number of hours an adult may attend a limited respite care services program from 12 to 16 hours in any one week, and authorizing such a program to provide care services for up to 20 adults at the same time, rather than 15. - Amends TCA Title 71, Chapter 2.

Naming and Designating - As enacted, designates the facility providing water and wastewater services to the Megasite of West Tennessee as the "Michael Banks Water Treatment Facility." - Amends TCA Title 64, Chapter 9.

Constitutional Conventions - As enacted, revises faithful delegate laws pertaining to Article V conventions. - Amends TCA Title 3, Chapter 18.

Sunset Laws - As enacted, extends the Tennessee State University, board of trustees to June 30, 2029. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 29 and Title 49, Chapter 8.

Sunset Laws - As enacted, extends the department of human services to June 30, 2030. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 29 and Title 4, Chapter 3.

Sunset Laws - As enacted, extends the department of education to June 30, 2030. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 3; Title 4, Chapter 29 and Title 49.

Correction, Dept. of - As enacted, requires the department to conduct a study concerning subjects related to access of family members to incarcerated persons for visitation; requires the department to report its findings to each member of the general assembly and to provide a copy of the report to the legislative librarian by no later than January 31, 2027. - Amends TCA Title 41, Chapter 51.

Safety - As enacted, enacts the "Rescue Squad Recognition Act." - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8 and Title 68.

Insurance Companies, Agents, Brokers, Policies - As enacted, requires title insurance agencies that separately represent the buyer and seller in a real estate transaction and agree to an arrangement to share the title insurance premiums, commissions, or other fees paid by the buyer and seller, to provide written notice to the buyer and seller of such sharing arrangement and to receive signed, written acknowledgement from the buyer and seller confirming that they were so notified in writing; makes other related changes. - Amends TCA Title 56, Chapter 35 and Title 66.

Purchasing and Procurement - As enacted, enacts the "Tennessee Procurement Protection Act." - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 56.

Criminal Offenses - As enacted, enacts the "Crush Transnational Repression in Tennessee Act." - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 38 and Title 39.

State Government - As enacted, makes various changes to certain boards, authorities, and task forces, including, but not limited to, requiring all vacancies on the state capitol commission, the Tennessee local development authority, and the advisory task force on state reimbursement to be filled for the balance of the unexpired term. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8; Title 13; Title 16; Title 38; Title 43; Title 49; Title 50; Title 54; Title 58; Title 63; Title 64; Title 65; Title 68; Title 69; Title 70 and Title 71.

Education, Higher - As enacted, requires the board of regents, state university boards, and the board of trustees for the University of Tennessee system to adopt and implement policies that clearly distinguish between tenure decisions and disciplinary actions for faculty members. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 7; Title 49, Chapter 8 and Title 49, Chapter 9.

Election Laws - As enacted, authorizes the electronic portal to be created by the coordinator of elections prior to January 1, 2028, to access data from the systematic alien verification for entitlements (SAVE) program if the United States department of homeland security, United States citizenship and immigration services makes such data available via a secure web service. - Amends TCA Title 2.

Employees, Employers - As enacted, generally requires, beginning July 1, 2026, all state and local governmental employers to verify the work authorization status of each prospective employee through the federal E-Verify program prior to employment; authorizes the attorney general to enforce compliance with the requirement against local governments and subjects a noncompliant local government to the withholding of all funds of this state allocated to the local government via grant, contract, or statute, including, but not limited to, state-shared taxes. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 12 and Title 50.

Immigration - As enacted, creates the Class A misdemeanor of intentionally failing or refusing to depart when a final order of removal is outstanding; creates the Class A misdemeanor of intentionally entering, attempting to enter, or being found in this state after being denied admission, excluded, deported, or removed from the United States. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 7; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40 and Title 41.

Game and Fish Laws - As enacted, repeals statutory requirements related to raccoon hunting, thereby permitting the Tennessee fish and wildlife commission to regulate such activities through proclamations and rules. - Amends TCA Title 70, Chapter 4.

DNA and Genetic Testing - As enacted, directs the department of health to test for the presence of sickle cell trait in each newborn and, if the test results are positive for sickle cell trait, to notify the parent or legal guardian of the newborn tested as soon as practicable. - Amends TCA Title 68, Chapter 5.

Tort Liability and Reform - As enacted, enacts the "Tennessee Child Care Hosting Safe Harbor Act." - Amends TCA Title 29 and Title 71, Chapter 3.

Local Government, General - As enacted, makes changes to the process by which local governments may issue and sell grant anticipation notes; authorizes the comptroller to approve certain notes issued by a local government if the local government demonstrates that a natural disaster has caused economic distress. - Amends TCA Title 9, Chapter 13, Part 2 and Title 9, Chapter 21, Part 7.

Judicial Districts - As enacted, extends the date by which the advisory task force to review composition of judicial districts has to complete its findings and publish a proposed statewide judicial redistricting plan; extends the date by which the general assembly must reapportion the judicial districts in accordance with such plan. - Amends TCA Title 16, Chapter 2.

Sentencing - As enacted, adds aggravating circumstances for a jury to consider when determining the sentence of a defendant convicted of certain offenses. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40.

Auditing - As enacted, clarifies that, as of November 1, 2026, a non-governmental entity receiving in-kind funding from the state or a political subdivision of the state pursuant to the federal Public Health Service Act is eligible to qualify as a 340B entity, only if the entity is also a recipient of one or more state or federal grant awards that are subject to audit, reporting, and oversight requirements under state and federal law; authorizes the comptroller of the treasury and any state agency or political subdivision providing in-kind funding to verify eligibility and enforce compliance. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 4; Title 9; Title 47, Chapter 18; Title 56 and Title 63.

Garnishments and Executions - As enacted, clarifies that the sheriff or other person authorized by law to serve garnishments is authorized to demand that the fee for performing service of a garnishment be paid in advance of such performance. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 21, Part 9.

Naming and Designating - As enacted, renames the Army National Guard Armory, located on U.S. Highway 321 in Maryville, the "CSM William O. Gregory National Guard Armory." - Amends TCA Title 58, Chapter 1.

Election Laws - As enacted, makes various changes to election laws, including, but not limited to, requiring certain reimbursements to county election commissions for primary elections to be processed in the same manner as expenses for the presidential preference primary, and eliminating authorization for certain state entities and officers to accept or expend grants, gifts, or funding from private persons, corporations, organizations, or political parties for conducting an election. - Amends TCA Title 2.

State Symbols - As enacted, designates Lake County as the "Eagle Capital of Tennessee." - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 1, Part 3.

Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services, Dept. of - As enacted, clarifies that if marijuana is rescheduled or deleted as a controlled substance under federal law, the commissioner is prohibited from rescheduling or deleting marijuana under state law, unless the general assembly has established a regulatory framework for marijuana and authorized the commissioner to reschedule or delete marijuana as a controlled substance. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 9; Title 24; Title 29; Title 33; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40; Title 41; Title 43; Title 45; Title 50; Title 53; Title 57; Title 63; Title 67; Title 68 and Title 71.

Vital Records - As enacted, enacts "April's Law of 2026," which authorizes a surviving parent, in addition to another next of kin, to formally disagree with the county medical examiner's determination that the manner of death for the parent's child was suicide and request reconsideration from the state chief medical examiner; allows the other parent of a child of the decedent to request a copy of the decedent's death certificate if the child is under 18. - Amends TCA Title 38 and Title 68.

Driver Licenses - As enacted, requires the department of correction to coordinate with the department of safety to provide a driver license to certain inmates who are discharged from imprisonment and who intend to reside in this state; makes other related changes. - Amends TCA Section 41-51-301 and Title 55, Chapter 50, Part 3.

Child Labor - As enacted, adds regulations for content creation that involves certain minors. - Amends TCA Title 29; Title 39; Title 47 and Title 50.

Public Records - As enacted, requires each state governmental entity and official to maintain certain information relative to the operational enforcement of federal and state immigration laws as confidential, and provides that such information is not subject to public inspection. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 10; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40; Title 41 and Chapter 253 of the Public Acts of 2021.

Law Enforcement - As enacted, requires a prosecuting agency that maintains a Brady list to adopt a policy that meets certain requirements. - Amends TCA Title 38, Chapter 8.

Taxes, Privilege - As enacted, clarifies that all privilege taxes on litigation that clerks of certain courts fail to collect and pay to the department of revenue are debts of the clerks; adds certain reporting requirements. - Amends TCA Title 40 and Title 67.

Memorials, Recognition - D.T. McCall & Sons -

Statutes of Limitations and Repose - As enacted, specifies that a party filing a counterclaim, third-party complaint, or cross-claim related to the design, planning, supervision, or construction of an improvement of real property is not subject to the four-year statute of repose. - Amends TCA Title 28.

Election Laws - As introduced, specifies that the reasonable period for candidates to remove signs, posters, or placards advocating their candidacy is two weeks after the election instead of three weeks. - Amends TCA Title 2.

Child Custody and Support - As enacted, requires a court to consider the extent to which a parenting schedule provides each parent a meaningful opportunity to participate in the child's life, consistent with the child's best interest, in addition to the other relevant factors, when making a child custody determination. - Amends TCA Title 36 and Title 37.

Children - As enacted, requires certain procedures, currently found in the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, to be applied by courts in child custody proceedings involving an Indian child. - Amends TCA Title 36 and Title 37.

Charitable Solicitations - As enacted, establishes a process to notify a charitable organization that it has been designated as a beneficiary in an instrument that provides for payment or transfer at death without probate; makes related changes. - Amends TCA Title 35 and Title 48.

Food and Food Products - As enacted, increases from 150 gallons to 835 gallons the annual threshold amount of honey at or above which a honey producer is subject to food manufacturing and inspection requirements. - Amends TCA Title 44, Chapter 15 and Title 53.

Energy - As enacted, creates the "Tennessee Energy Freedom Act." - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 60 and Title 68.

Child Custody and Support - As enacted, requires a court to include written findings of fact as to whether certain limitations in parenting plans apply in a child custody order, whether temporary or permanent. - Amends TCA Title 29; Title 36 and Title 37.