114 session

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.

2026-04-09 — Re-refer to S. Cal Comm

Teachers, Principals and School Personnel - As introduced, requires LEAs to classify school nurses as licensed personnel for salary purposes; requires an LEA to pay a school nurse the base salary established for licensed teachers for the respective school year in certain circumstances; requires an LEA to pay a school nurse more or less than the established base salary per school year if the nurse has more or less training and experience than that required for the base salary. - Amends TCA Title 49 and Title 68.

2026-04-20 — Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/21/2026

Education - As enacted, expands the prescribed forms of epinephrine that an LEA or nonpublic school is authorized to administer when a student is believed to be experiencing a life-threatening allergic or anaphylactic reaction to any prescribed form of epinephrine, not just epinephrine auto-injectors. - Amends TCA Title 49 and Title 68, Chapter 140, Part 5.

2026-05-15 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 947

Criminal Offenses - As enacted, creates a criminal offense of knowingly violating a no contact order issued as part of a defendant's sentence or conditions of probation or parole following conviction for certain criminal offenses in which the alleged victim of the offense is a domestic abuse victim; punishes a violation as a Class A misdemeanor. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40.

2026-05-15 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 949

Holidays and Days of Special Observance - As enacted, designates November 2nd of each year as "James K. Polk Day." - Amends TCA Title 15, Chapter 2.

2026-03-30 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 623

Local Education Agencies - As introduced, authorizes counties and cities to create by majority vote of the local legislative body the elected office of school superintendent. - Amends TCA Title 2 and Title 49.

2026-01-22 — Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee

Public Records - As enacted, generally makes the addresses on a nominating petition for the office of judge, chancellor, district attorney general, and public defender confidential; clarifies that such addresses may be made open to public inspection upon the request of a candidate or law enforcement authority in anticipation of, or as part of, a contest of candidacy or contest of election. - Amends TCA Title 2 and Title 10, Chapter 7.

2026-05-04 — Effective date(s) 04/27/2026

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.

2026-03-25 — Failed (no second) in Senate State and Local Government Committee

Insurance, Health, Accident - As introduced, prohibits a health insurance issuer or managed health insurance issuer from reimbursing for testing services a medical laboratory that is eligible to participate as an in-network participating provider at a rate less than the CMS clinical laboratory fee schedule for medical labs in this state; permits a managed health insurance issuer to require such lab to meet the performance metrics required of in-network labs. - Amends TCA Title 56, Chapter 7, Part 23.

2026-03-03 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Commerce and Labor Committee

Lottery, Corporation - As enacted, vacates and reconstitutes the board of directors of the Tennessee education lottery corporation; requires certain information maintained by the corporation to be subject to a public records request; terminates the lottery corporation on June 30, 2030. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 10 and Title 49.

2026-05-27 — Effective date(s) 05/22/2026, 07/01/2026

Jails, Local Lock-ups - As enacted, authorizes a sheriff, jail administrator, or deputy jailer to refuse or delay acceptance into the jail of an arrestee if the arrestee has not received medical treatment for obvious serious physical injuries or conditions of an emergency nature; makes other related changes. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 8; Title 29; Title 40 and Title 41.

2026-04-24 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 751

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.

2026-04-28 — Effective date(s) 07/01/2026

Domestic Violence - As enacted, makes various changes to the present law pertaining to the persistent domestic violence offender registry. - Amends TCA Title 18; Section 38-6-103; Title 39 and Title 40.

2026-05-18 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 921

TennCare - As introduced, deletes an obsolete provision that required the comptroller of the treasury, in conjunction with any appropriate TennCare drug utilization review committees, to study the use of prescription drugs in nursing homes and the costs of those prescription drugs for residents of nursing homes; to examine prescription use overall; to focus on any practices that would improve the quality of resident care while reducing costs to the TennCare program; and to report by January 1, 2005, to the speaker of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 56 and Title 71.

2026-01-22 — Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Commerce and Labor Committee

Local Government, General - As enacted, clarifies that the general assembly occupies the entire field of the regulation of shopping carts, including their purchase, use, taxation, manufacture, ownership, sale, storage, and transportation, to the exclusion of all county or metropolitan government laws, ordinances, resolutions, enactments, or regulations; prohibits a county or metropolitan government, or any agency, department, or official of a county or metropolitan government, from adopting an ordinance, resolution, or other regulation requiring a business to adopt a shopping cart policy of any nature or imposing a fee or fine on a business related to shopping carts. - Amends TCA Title 5, Chapter 1 and Title 6, Chapter 54.

2026-05-27 — Effective date(s) 05/22/2026

State Government - As introduced, requires governor to cause proposed legislation that transfers functions between state departments be forwarded to the chairs of the government operations committees of both houses. - Amends TCA Title 4.

2026-01-22 — Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee

Sunset Laws - As enacted, creates sunrise provisions for certain governmental entities created during the 2025 legislative session. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 29; Title 8, Chapter 4, Part 6; Title 34, Chapter 3 and Title 40, Chapter 11, Part 3.

2026-04-23 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 746

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.

2026-04-06 — Effective date(s) 03/26/2026

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

2026-04-28 — Effective date(s) 04/23/2026

Trenton - Subject to local approval, expands the responsibilities of the city recorder to include the administration of functions for necessary and proper municipal operations, and to make such reports of the finances of the city as required and called on by the Mayor and Board; expands the residency requirement for the chief of police by authorizing the chief to reside anywhere in the county rather than just the city. - Amends Chapter 14 of the Private Acts of 2011.

2026-05-01 — Comp. became Pr. Ch. 42

Courts - As introduced, effective September 1, 2030, divides counties into five, instead of seven, different classes by population for the purpose of determining the compensation of general sessions and juvenile judges; revises provisions setting minimum salary requirements for general sessions and juvenile judges; establishes a county litigation tax on each civil, criminal, juvenile, and traffic case initiated in a general sessions or juvenile court to defray general sessions and juvenile judges' salaries; makes other related revisions. - Amends TCA Title 16, Chapter 15, Part 50.

2026-04-20 — Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/21/2026

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.

2026-04-06 — Effective date(s) 03/26/2026, 07/01/2026

Sentencing - As introduced, increases the penalty for leaving the scene of an accident resulting in injury from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony; increases the penalty for leaving the scene of an accident that the person knew or should reasonably have known resulted in death from a Class E felony to a Class D felony. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 13 and Title 55, Chapter 10.

2026-04-20 — Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/21/2026

Criminal Offenses - As enacted, creates the offense for a person to knowingly travel, with intent to commit theft of another person's cash, from a commercial business; a financial institution; or an automated teller machine, on the same path or route as another person without substantial deviation from that path or route while in possession of two or more criminal instruments. - Amends TCA Title 39.

2026-05-15 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 951

Motor Vehicles, Titling and Registration - As enacted, exempts a military service member who is stationed out of state on military orders from paying the additional registration fee imposed on all-electric vehicles. - Amends TCA Section 55-4-116 and Section 55-6-107.

2026-05-18 — Effective date(s) 07/01/2026

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.

2026-04-06 — Effective date(s) 04/01/2026

Courts, Juvenile - As enacted, expands the disposition allowed when a person under 21 is found to have unlawfully purchased, possessed, accepted receipt of, or presented fraudulent proof of age to purchase tobacco, smoking hemp, a vapor product, or a smokeless nicotine product to include requiring community service work, the successful completion of a prescribed court program, or placing the person on an informal adjustment for a period of 90 days for a first violation, and, for a second or subsequent violation, placing the person on probation for up to six months in addition to requiring community service and the successful completion of a prescribed court program focusing on the dangers of tobacco and vapor products. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 15.

2026-05-04 — Effective date(s) 07/01/2026

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

2026-05-05 — Effective date(s) 04/27/2026, 07/01/2026

Motor Vehicles, Titling and Registration - As enacted, redefines "hybrid electric vehicle" to clarify that it is a motor vehicle that is propelled by a combination of an electric motor and an internal combustion engine or other power source and components thereof. - Amends TCA Title 55, Chapter 4.

2026-03-30 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 628

Tort Liability and Reform - As introduced, expands the definition of a person for whom a wrongful death action may be brought to include an unborn child beginning at fertilization, rather than in utero; extends the period of time from two to three years after which a spouse is rebuttably presumed to have abandoned a deceased spouse for purposes of bringing a wrongful death claim. - Amends TCA Title 20 and Section 63-6-1102.

2026-03-24 — Failed in Senate Judiciary Committee

Law Enforcement - As introduced, entitles qualified law enforcement officers upon retirement or separation from service from their employing law enforcement agency to continue to maintain annual POST-certification upon meeting certain requirements. - Amends TCA Title 38, Chapter 8.

2026-03-10 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee

Sex Discrimination - As introduced, enacts the "Banning Bostock Act." - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 21.

2026-03-23 — Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 2027

Marriage - As introduced, states that private citizens and organizations are not bound by the Fourteenth Amendment or the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges to recognize a marriage between individuals of the same sex; prohibits the board of professional responsibility from disciplining or sanctioning an attorney for declining to officiate a marriage between two persons of the same sex. - Amends TCA Title 17, Chapter 5 and Title 36.

2026-03-23 — Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 2027

Criminal Offenses - As enacted, creates an offense of recklessly discharging a firearm into the air, ground, a body of water, or an object in close proximity to the person if the firearm is discharged at a place of public gathering or at a public event where there are at least 25 people in attendance at the time of the discharge; punishes the offense as a Class A misdemeanor; specifies certain exceptions to the offense. - Amends TCA Title 39.

2026-05-27 — Effective date(s) 07/01/2026

Motor Vehicles - As enacted, revises law relative to out-of-service orders issued to commercial drivers and related penalties. - Amends TCA Title 55 and Title 65, Chapter 15.

2026-06-18 — Effective date(s) contingent

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, increases from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class C felony the available sentence for an aggravated criminal trespass if, while in commission of the trespass, the trespasser encounters the owner using or displaying a firearm in self-defense; upgrades trespass offenses to Class C felonies. - Amends TCA Section 39-11-611; Title 39, Chapter 13, Part 10 and Title 39, Chapter 14, Part 4.

2026-03-24 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee

Water - As introduced, prohibits the department of environment and conservation from prohibiting a utility that provides drinking water from pumping or otherwise withdrawing water from natural waters for purposes of providing drinking water, including as a prerequisite to renewal of the utility's permit, unless the prohibition is required to comply with federal law. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 68, Chapter 221 and Title 69.

2026-03-11 — Failed in Senate Energy, Ag., and Nat. Resources Committee

Adoption - As enacted, clarifies that a court may waive the requirement for a home study in an adoption when the prospective adoptive parent or parents are not related to the child if certain requirements are met. - Amends TCA Title 36 and Title 37.

2026-05-05 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 878

Teachers, Principals and School Personnel - As introduced, compiles a list of certain training requirements and opportunities for certain school staff and volunteers; changes the required frequency for certain de-escalation training, child abuse training, and training on harassment, intimidation, bullying, or cyberbullying policies. - Amends TCA Section 37-1-408; Title 49 and Section 68-6-103.

2026-03-04 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Education Committee

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.

2026-04-28 — Effective date(s) 04/14/2026

Criminal Procedure - As introduced, removes the requirement for a petitioner for restoration of citizenship or an applicant for a certificate of employability to pay the costs of the proceedings; makes other changes to the process for restoration of citizenship. - Amends TCA Title 40, Chapter 29.

2026-03-03 — Failed in Senate Judiciary Committee

Courts, Juvenile - As introduced, requires the department of children's services, and others, to provide certain information to court-appointed special advocates in order to provide judicial officers with the most comprehensive information to be used in the consideration of the placement and custody of a child. - Amends TCA Title 37, Chapter 1, Part 1.

2026-03-10 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee

Campaigns and Campaign Finance - As introduced, requires the registry of election finance to provide a nonexclusive list of the various categories of contributions that constitute in-kind contributions requiring disclosure to each member of the general assembly at the beginning of each yearly session and each candidate for state office within one week of the candidate certifying a treasurer with the registry. - Amends TCA Title 2, Chapter 10.

2026-01-22 — Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee

Election Laws - As enacted, authorizes, if a candidate changes treasurers and notifies the registry of election finance of the change, the candidate to continue to use print communication that includes the identification of the former treasurer until the print communication is exhausted. - Amends TCA Title 2.

2026-05-18 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 913

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.

2026-04-06 — Governor returned.

State Inmates - As introduced, requires the department of correction to keep a copy of each validated risk and needs assessment of each inmate under its supervision and control for the duration of the inmate's period of incarceration. - Amends TCA Title 41.

2026-03-03 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate State and Local Government Committee

Real Property - As enacted, authorizes a tax increment agency to enter into a taxpayer agreement relative to a plan area after obtaining a written statement executed by each holder of an existing, previously recorded mortgage or deed of trust on the property securing indebtedness and in which each holder consents to the taxpayer agreement and indicates that the assessment does not constitute an event of default under the existing mortgage or deed of trust. - Amends TCA Title 9, Chapter 23 and Title 67, Chapter 5.

2026-05-18 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 915