More bills were filed in the Tennessee General Assembly this week. The following bills detailed below reflect changes to marriage, unlawful occupants, physical searches of students, officer’s immune from civil liability, child abuse, veteran SRO’s, newborns, firearm storage, display of certain flags, human smuggling, retail crime, medical debt, surveillance cameras on highways, bearing arms within view, pregnancy, and concealed carry. These bills, if passed, would become laws and would affect every person in the state of Tennessee.
HB216/SB292-creates a legal process through which a person may request the immediate removal of an unlawful occupant of the person's commercial real property by filing a complaint with the sheriff for the county in which the property is located.
SB280-specifies that certain physical searches of students and searches of lockers, vehicles, and other property must be conducted by a school resource officer.
HB315-enacts the "Tennessee Covenant Marriage Act" to create covenant marriage, which is entered into by one male and one female, who understand and agree that marriage is a lifelong relationship; permits a spouse in a covenant marriage to obtain a judgment of divorce under certain circumstances.
SB280-specifies that a law enforcement officer who causes property damage to or inflicts personal injury upon a person during the course of the law enforcement officer's official duties is immune from civil liability if at the time the damage or injury occurred, the person suffering the injury or damage was engaged in conduct that resulted in the person being convicted of the offense of resisting a stop, frisk, halt, arrest, or search of the person.
HB347-specifies that the terms abandonment, abuse, severe abuse, and dependent and neglected child do not include the failure to meet the needs of a child solely due to financial hardship unless reasonable material resources such as cash assistance, safe and stable housing, or tangible goods have been offered to and refused by the parent or guardian; makes various other changes regarding adoption, termination of parental rights, and the criminal offenses of child abuse and child neglect.
SB257-authorizes LEAs and public charter schools to employ retired law enforcement officers who are retired from a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency and honorably discharged veterans of the United States armed forces to serve as school resource officers on school premises; requires local boards of education and public charter school governing bodies to adopt policies to effectuate same.
SB266-prohibits state and local government entities from displaying or allowing display of flags other than Tennessee and U.S. flags on courthouses and public roads and sidewalks; prohibits LEAs and public charter schools from displaying in public schools flags other than the official United States flag and the official Tennessee state flag.
SB262-increases the age from 14 to 45 days that a facility may receive possession of an unharmed newborn infant without the mother being subject to criminal liability.
HB312-As introduced, creates a Class A misdemeanor for recklessly storing a firearm in a manner that a person knows or reasonably should know will allow a child younger than 18 years of age to access the firearm and the child brings the firearm to a school.
HB322-creates the offense of human smuggling; creates the offense of harboring or hiding, or assisting another in harboring or hiding, within this state an individual who the person knows or should have known has illegally entered or remained in the United States; authorizes the attorney general to take certain actions against a person or organization who commits or is about to commit a human trafficking offense or an aggravated human trafficking offense.
SB240-expands the offense of organized retail crime to include certain acts, including knowingly using an online marketplace or social media platform to coordinate a meeting with one or more persons to sell, barter, or trade stolen merchandise for monetary or other gain; increases the punishment for the offense under certain circumstances.
SB230-prohibits consumer reporting agencies from including on a consumer report a record of a medical debt judgment that is filed in this state.
HB294-authorizes surveillance cameras to be installed on federal interstate highways and operated by a state entity to aid in the investigation and prevention of terrorism and state criminal offenses other than traffic violations; authorizes surveillance cameras to be installed on public roads and highways other than federal interstate highways and operated by local law enforcement agencies to aid in the investigation and prevention of terrorism and state criminal offenses other than traffic violations.
HJR53-Proposes an amendment to Article I, Section 26 of the Constitution of Tennessee to remove the provision that authorizes the legislature to regulate the wearing of arms with a view to prevent crime and to clarify that citizens have a right to keep and bear arms.
SB190-requires an employer that terminates the employment of an employee who the employer knows to be pregnant and who is covered under an employer-sponsored health benefit plan to continue to provide coverage under the plan until the employee’s pregnancy ends.
SJR28-A RESOLUTION to express support for the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of the 119th U.S. Congress. This bill would provide nationwide reciprocity for concealed carry license holders to allow an individual with a state-issued concealed carry license or permit to conceal a handgun in any other state.
Please be sure to follow us as these bills make their way through the general assembly this session. Bills, when passed, become laws and affect everyone in the state. The Dresden Enterprise & The Martin Post vow to keep citizens informed as these bills, and others move through the legislative assembly.