Committee advances multiple criminal-justice bills to full judiciary, including bail, hemp tax tweak and three-strikes measure

Tennessee House Criminal Justice Subcommittee · April 2, 2026

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Summary

On April 7 the subcommittee advanced a slate of bills to the full judiciary committee, including H.B. 1624 (no-contact order expansion), H.B. 21 72 (hemp tax fix), H.B. 4 83 (AG oversight, amended), H.B. 21 57 (Tennessee Safe Initiative task force), H.B. 9 20 (bail for dangerous crimes), H.B. 25 04 (three-strikes), H.B. 13 72, and H.B. 599 (firearms transfer), with votes recorded on the committee floor.

The House Criminal Justice Subcommittee completed its calendar on April 7 by forwarding multiple bills to the full House Judiciary Committee. Votes recorded on the committee floor included:

- H.B. 1624 (Representative Barrett): Expand class A misdemeanor for violating no-contact orders to orders issued as part of a sentence, probation, or parole — forwarded to full judiciary, 9–0.

- H.B. 21 72 (Representative Williams): Amendment closing a hemp-derived cannabinoid "gallonage" tax loophole — amendment adopted and bill forwarded, 9–0.

- H.B. 4 83 (Chairman Farmer): Amendment added authority for the attorney general to seek temporary replacement of a DA in defined circumstances; advanced as amended, 7–2.

- H.B. 21 57 (Leader Lambert et al.): Adopted amendment creating the Tennessee Safe Initiative task force under the TBI; advanced, 9–0.

- H.B. 9 20 (Representative Scarborough): Amendment to mandate bail set for certain dangerous crimes (class A/B felonies and specified assaults); amendment adopted and bill advanced, 7–2.

- H.B. 25 04 (three-strikes bill): Advanced to full judiciary, 7–2.

- H.B. 13 72 (Representative Halsey): Technical fix concerning accomplice intent language; amendment adopted and bill advanced, 9–0.

- H.B. 5 99 (Representative Freeman): Amendment aligning sale or offer-to-sell prohibitions for firearms to persons known to be prohibited by state or federal law; amendment adopted and bill advanced, 9–0.

The subcommittee completed business and adjourned. Individual roll-call names for each recorded yes/no were not provided in the publicly available transcript; the clerk announced tallies for each vote.