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Senate Judiciary Committee advances TBI request and a package of bills, including child‑advocacy funding and RICO expansion; most measures cleared for calendar/
Summary
The committee forwarded the TBI budget request to Finance and approved or advanced a number of bills to calendar or finance, including a child‑advocacy funding measure, RICO expansion to include animal fighting, revisions to foster‑care and adoption access, and criminal‑law changes. Vote tallies are listed below.
The Senate Judiciary Committee met to hear agency testimony and to consider a package of bills. Committee members voted to forward the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s FY25–26 request to the Finance Committee, then took action on multiple bills — placing several on the calendar and referring others to Finance. The committee recorded roll‑call tallies for each item and forwarded measures as summarized below.
Votes at a glance
- Consent calendar (includes Senate bills 12‑90 and 13‑14 on the consent list): Committee roll call: 8 ayes; outcome: consent calendar approved; Senate Bill 12‑90 to Calendar; Senate Bill 13‑14 to Finance.
- TBI FY25–26 request (agency presentation): Motion to approve and refer to Finance; roll call: 8 ayes; outcome: referred to Finance.
- Senate Bill 12‑66 (Department of Children’s Services, foster care extension changes, sponsor: Senator Rose): roll call: 8 ayes; outcome: referred to Finance.
- Senate Bill 12‑67 (adoption records, sponsor: Senator Hale): roll call: 9 ayes; outcome: referred to Calendar.
- Senate Bill 9‑16 (adds animal fighting to state RICO provisions, sponsor: Senator Hill): roll call: 7 ayes, 2 nos; outcome: referred to Calendar.
- Senate Bill 48 (opioid abatement settlement allocations; amendment added to include additional companies and Purdue bankruptcy funds): roll call: 9 ayes; outcome: referred to Calendar.
- Senate Bill 12‑99 (interlock device technical clarifications, sponsor: Senator Stevens): roll call: 9 ayes; outcome: referred to Calendar.
- Senate Bill 13‑03 (creates misdemeanor/penalty for intentionally impeding protective detail while protecting a named person, sponsor: Senator Taylor): roll call: 7 ayes, 1 no, 1 present not voting; outcome: referred to Calendar.
- Senate Bill 4‑50 (increases CAC funding baseline, sponsor: Senator Massey): roll call: 9 ayes; outcome: referred to Finance.
- Senate Bill 4‑48 (technical cleanup to Protect Tennessee Minors statute, sponsor: Senator Massey): roll call: 8 ayes; outcome: referred to Calendar.
- Senate Bill 7‑04 (increased penalties for impersonating rideshare or taxi drivers, sponsor: Senator Massey): roll call: 8 ayes; outcome: referred to Calendar.
- Senate Bill 2‑43 (penalty enhancement for altering firearm serial numbers, sponsor: Senator Bailey): roll call: 8 ayes; outcome: referred to Finance.
- Senate Bill 7‑65 (banking/garnishment and fee recovery clarifications, sponsor: Senator Bailey): roll call: 9 ayes; outcome: referred to Calendar.
- Senate Bill 7‑69 (possession of used detached catalytic converters — penalty change, sponsor: Senator Bailey): roll call: 9 ayes; outcome: referred to Calendar.
- Senate Bill 5‑86 (revenge‑video/“nonconsensual dissemination” expansion, sponsor: Senator Ackbar): roll call: 9 ayes; outcome: referred to Calendar.
- Senate Bill 2‑18 (bail presumption changes for defendants who used or displayed a firearm or caused serious bodily injury, sponsor: Senator Taylor): roll call recorded 7 ayes and 2 present not voting; outcome: referred to Calendar.
- Senate Bill on expungement wait‑time reductions (sponsor: Senator Lamar): recorded roll call 5 ayes and 4 nos; outcome: referred to Calendar.
- Senate Bill 6‑71 (cargo theft penalty increase, sponsor: Senator Taylor): roll call: 8 ayes, 1 present not voting; outcome: referred to Finance.
- Senate Bill 8‑56 (allows judges to consider reliable hearsay when setting bail; sponsor: Senator Taylor): roll call: 8 ayes, 1 no; outcome: referred to Calendar.
- Senate Bill 6‑85 (unlawful photography penalty increase): roll call recorded 7 ayes and 2 nos (one present not voting recorded earlier); outcome: referred to Finance.
- Senate Bill 5‑31 (clarifying classification authority for out‑of‑state and federal sex‑offender convictions): roll call: 9 ayes; outcome: referred to Calendar.
- Senate Bill 5‑34 (technical updates to Tennessee trust code): roll call: 9 ayes; outcome: referred to Calendar.
- Senate Bill 10‑51 (online notary education requirement): roll call: 9 ayes; outcome: referred to Calendar.
- Senate Bill 2‑15 (criminal penalties for distributing hemp‑derived cannabinoid edible products to minors near schools — sponsor: Chairman Gordon Hire): roll call: 8 ayes, 1 present not voting; outcome: referred to Calendar.
For many of the roll‑call votes the committee record lists only the total ayes/nos/abstentions noted above; some individual votes are recorded in the transcript when the secretary called the roll. All bills were moved and seconded on the floor before roll call as recorded in the transcript. Where the transcript recorded a numerical tally, that tally is included above.
Why it matters: The committee’s actions move many items — criminal‑law changes, technical statutory cleanups, and substantial budget requests — to the next stage (Finance or Calendar) where funding and floor scheduling will be decided. Several bills raise penalties or change prosecutorial or bail calculations and could affect courts, law enforcement, and communities statewide.
What’s next: Bills referred to Finance now await budget consideration; bills placed on the calendar will be scheduled for further committee or floor action as determined by legislative leaders.
