While the 113th Tennessee General Assembly debated how to alter the state’s franchise tax and whether there would be a universal school voucher plan, dozens of bills passed centering on crime and courts — a slate of legislation Republicans now tout as one of their greatest accomplishments of the session.
“I think when you look back at this session, one of the things it will be defined by will be the different types of criminal justice reforms that we have done,” said House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) during a press conference at the end of session. “There’s a lot of things that we did this year to protect our communities, protect our streets and protect our citizens.”
Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) countered, pointing to the passing of a bill that would allow local school boards and law enforcement to decide whether teachers can carry guns in schools.
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“A year after the Covenant School [shooting], this General Assembly has done nothing to make people safer and has instead thumbed their noses at public safety by putting more guns into teachers’ hands in public schools,” Yarbro said.
Even so, Democrats got behind several pieces of criminal justice legislation. Passed unanimously in the House and Senate, SB2507 was signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee on May 1. It requires children admitted to juvenile detention to be allowed within 24 hours to have at least one phone call and a 30-minute in-person visit with their parent or guardian. The companion House bill was co-sponsored by Rep. William Slater (R-Gallatin) and Rep. G.A. Hardaway (D-Memphis). Hardaway, a member of the House Criminal Justice Committee, was also a co-sponsor for HB0701, which also passed unanimously in both chambers. The law adds continuous sexual abuse of a child to the list of criminal misconduct receiving sentences of community supervision for life in addition to other imposed punishment.
“I’ve said for years that public safety is not a partisan issue,” says House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland). “Republicans or Democrats alike, or anyone in between, should be able to come together — and we do come together in the legislature — to pass bills that improve public safety.”
But Republicans and Democrats did disagree over Lamberth’s own HB1663, which the state could eventually have to fight for in the U.S. Supreme Court. The bill allows consideration of the death penalty as punishment for the rape of a child.
“When a jury hands that punishment down, it will immediately be challenged, and we’ll have to go back to the U.S. Supreme Court to see whether or not they are willing to overturn the precedent of citing, as they did years ago, that the death penalty is unconstitutional for anything other than capital murder,” Lamberth says. “We’re going to have to fight that fight out all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but it’s one I think is worth fighting.”
Lawmakers who spoke against the bill said it was not because offenders shouldn’t be prevented from harming anyone again. Rather, many voted against the bill because victims’ advocacy groups have stated that children could be deterred from coming forward if they knew their abuser could face death. Lamberth countered by reading statements from victims who said they believed it would not deter reporting.
Another of Lamberth’s bills, HB1641, creates a misdemeanor offense for violating a condition of release on bail and authorizes law enforcement to arrest an offender without a warrant. Lamberth tells the Scene he worked with Nashville judges to create the bill and adds that the city has “a really good bond supervision program.” In early committee meetings, Hardaway indicated he would support the bill. But by the time the bill made it to the House floor and was conformed to match the Senate version, Hardaway joined other Democrats in voting against the legislation — which still passed 75-17. There was no debate on the floor of the House, but Senate Democrats were vocal about their opposition. It passed in the upper chamber with a 27-4 vote.
“This will unquestionably clog up the local court system,” said Yarbro in April. “It will unquestionably lead to increased local incarceration.”
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Similarly, Democrats were set to support SB0624, a bill on blended sentencing that passed the Senate last year. But during this year’s session, the House took up the Senate bill and passed it with their own amendments — championed by Speaker Sexton. The House amendments changed the bill so that teens who commit serious crimes could face five years of probation or incarceration in an adult facility after their juvenile sentence ends.
“I not only strongly supported the original version, I really was going to sign on as a co-sponsor,” said Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) during discussion of the bill. “I hate that we are in this posture where the first version of blended sentencing in the state that will pass is one that is not actually going to help juveniles, as the concept is intended.”
The House passed its amendments and adopted the legislation in a 79-15-1 vote. The Senate bill originally passed in 2023’s initial vote with 31-0-1, but Senate Democrats later opposed the House’s amendments to the legislation — with Sen. Ed Jackson (R-Jackson) joining Senate Democratic Caucus Chair London Lamar (D-Memphis) as present but not voting for both amendments. For the amendment that substantially changed the bill, Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) was present but not voting, and Sen. Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield) voted no.
Lawmakers crossed party lines on other criminal-justice-related votes as well. HB2323 increases the penalty for a third or subsequent domestic assault conviction from a misdemeanor to a felony. The House voted 89-7-1 in favor of the bill, with several Democrats — including House Minority Leader Karen Camper and House Democratic Caucus Chair John Ray Clemmons — voting in favor. The Senate voted 27-3-1, with Yarbro as the only Democrat voting in favor. Another bill requires a judge to give first consideration to community safety when deciding the conditions of bond for a criminal defendant; it passed unanimously in the Senate, but House Democrats spoke about concerns for individuals’ constitutional rights and voted against the bill. It passed 80-13-3, was signed by the governor and goes into effect July 1.
A second bill dealing with bail passed along party lines 74-20-2 in the House and 27-4 in the Senate. It prohibits a judge from considering a defendant’s ability to pay when determining the amount of bail necessary to assure the defendant’s appearance in court. It was signed by the governor on May 1 and became effective immediately.
HB1640, which was named after Belmont University student Jillian Ludwig, passed unanimously in the House and Senate, with a few Democrats marking themselves as present but not voting. The bill involuntarily commits some defendants for inpatient treatment and removes their ability to buy or own a gun if they have been found incompetent to stand trial. Ludwig was killed in November. Police arrested 29-year-old Shaquille Taylor for the killing; he had previously been found mentally incompetent and couldn't stand trial following a 2021 shooting.
Bills that passed unanimously (or nearly unanimously):
HB1817 increases the penalty from a class-D felony to a class-B felony for a person who negligently, by act or omission, engages in conduct that places a child 8 or younger in imminent danger of death, bodily injury or physical or mental impairment. Passed in the House 86-2-4 and in the Senate 30-0-1.
HB2163 specifies that for the purposes of offenses related to the sexual exploitation of children, the term "material" includes computer-generated images created, adapted or modified by artificial intelligence; defines "artificial intelligence." Passed in the House 94-0-2 and in the Senate 27-0-1.
HB1021 changes the “Criminal Injuries Compensation Act” by providing an exception for victims whose cooperation with an investigation may be impacted by fear of retaliation or other factors that would harm their well-being. Passed in the House 95-0 and in the Senate 28-0-1.
HB0689 requires an officer to provide an alleged victim of certain criminal offenses with notice of the defendant’s global positioning monitoring system used as a condition of bail. Passed in the House 84-4-2 and in the Senate 30-0.
- HB1640, “Jillian’s Law,” requires a person judicially committed to a mental institution remain committed until competency to stand trial is restored. If competency is unable to be restored but the person no longer meets the standard, they shall remain committed until the court with criminal jurisdiction approves a mandatory outpatient treatment plan that accounts for the safety of the community. Passed in the House 92-0-4 and in the Senate 28-1.
HB1695 states the reports of county medical examiners and autopsy reports of minors whose manner of death is listed as a homicide are generally not public documents; it does allow reports to be released or inspected under certain conditions. Passed in the House 86-1 and in the Senate 28-3.
SB1811 expands the application of certain indecent-exposure offenses by including victims from 13 to 17 years old and increases the penalty for indecent exposure if the victim is between those ages. Passed in the House 97-0 and in the Senate 32-0.
Bills that passed along party lines (or mostly):
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SB0624 allows a juvenile court to impose a blended sentence on a child 16 years of age or older for a juvenile offense that would be a class-A, -B or -C felony if committed by an adult; defines blended sentencing as a combination of any disposition otherwise provided for juveniles and a period of adult probation to be served after the child turns 18, and ending on or before the person’s 25th birthday. Passed in the House 79-15-1 and in the Senate: 31-1 on initial vote in 2023 (but 22-5-3 and 23-4-2 on two House amendments in 2024).
SB1834 authorizes the death penalty as a punishment for rape of a child, aggravated rape of a child or especially aggravated rape of a child. Passed in the House 77-19-1 and in the Senate 23-5.
SB2563 creates a class-A misdemeanor of violating a condition of release on bail; authorizes a law enforcement officer to arrest such an offender without a warrant. Passed in the House 75-17-1 and in the Senate 27-4.
SB2565 prohibits a magistrate from considering a defendant's ability to pay when determining the amount of bail necessary to reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant while at the same time protecting the safety of the public. Passed in the House 74-20-2 and in the Senate 27-4.
HB2126 allows a juvenile court to transfer a child, 15 or older, to be tried as an adult in criminal court for the offense of organized retail crime, theft of a firearm or an attempt to commit such offense. Passed in the House 72-24 and in the Senate 26-6.
SB2571, or the “Parental Accountability Act,” adds that if a child is found to be delinquent for a second or subsequent time, then the court may order restitution against the parent or guardian for the expenses incurred by any law enforcement agency in responding to and investigating the delinquent act. Passed in the House 72-24-2 and in the Senate 34-5-1.
HB1931 prohibits local governments from enacting a resolution, ordinance or policy that prohibits or limits the ability of law enforcement to conduct traffic stops based on observation of or reasonable suspicion that the driver or a passenger has violated a local ordinance, state or federal law. Passed in the House 68-24 and in the Senate 26-6.
HB2124 requires law enforcement to communicate with federal officials about an individual’s immigration status, including reporting knowledge that a particular person is not lawfully present in the United States. Passed in the House 74-22 and in the Senate 26-7.
Bills that were a mixed bag:
HB2323 increases the penalty for a third or subsequent domestic assault conviction from a class-A misdemeanor to a class-E felony; upgrades the offense classification for certain qualifying misdemeanor offenses to a class-E felony upon a defendant's conviction for a sixth or subsequent qualifying misdemeanor. Passed in the House 89-7-1 and in the Senate 27-3-1.
SB1802, or "The District Attorney General Second Opinion Act," authorizes in any investigation involving a human trafficking offense, an organized crime offense or an offense classified as a class-A or -B felony, in which a district attorney general declines prosecution, an investigating agency to report the offense to the district attorney general for another judicial district in which jurisdiction is proper. Passed in the House 81-8-1 and in the Senate 25-5.
HB1642 revises provisions regarding pretrial release of a defendant charged with a criminal offense to require the magistrate to give first consideration to community safety when determining whether to impose conditions of release or require bail. Passed in the House 80-13-3 and in the Senate 32-0.
HB2566 requires any conditions of release imposed on a defendant to include a requirement that the defendant submit to pretrial monitoring to ensure compliance; requires the court to order bail to be forfeited and an arrest warrant issued if the defendant does not comply; limits those who may release a defendant who has been arrested for failure to comply with release conditions to criminal or circuit court judges. Passed in the House 86-16-1 and in the Senate 26-5, on concurrence with a House amendment.
HB2386 authorizes law enforcement to execute a search warrant for medical records or a test to determine the alcohol and/or drug content of a person's blood anywhere in the state, rather than in the county where the warrant was issued. Passed in the House 78-16 and in the Senate 27-4.
- HB2814 raises the penalty of drag racing from a class-A misdemeanor to a class-E felony. Passed in the House 86-11-1 and the Senate 25-4-1.
