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Firefighter survivor urges tougher penalties as committee advances assault-on-first-responders bill
Summary
A firefighter who was struck while treating a patient urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to upgrade assaults on first responders to a felony. The sponsor and the state's DA conference supported the measure; the committee advanced the bill to finance after testimony and questions about plea bargaining and fiscal notes.
Senator Sharon Bailey sponsored legislation to elevate assaults on first responders to a class E felony with higher sentencing and fines, saying the change aligns penalties for firefighters and paramedics with law enforcement. Bailey described the bill's origin and asked the committee to hear a brief witness statement.
Jade Callister, a firefighter and advanced EMT who said she was assaulted while rendering aid in February 2025, told senators her injuries have left lasting physical and emotional consequences and argued that stronger penalties could deter future attacks. "In February February 20 25, while rendering aid to a patient as part of my duties, the patient became aggressive and hostile resulting in an act of intentional violence," she testified.
Committee members raised prosecutorial concerns about plea bargaining and whether longer sentences would meaningfully change behavior. Steven Crump of the Tennessee District Attorney General Conference said there is no simple fix for preventing plea reductions and warned that restricting plea bargaining could create separation-of-powers problems, but the conference supports the bill as an important complement to law-enforcement protections.
After discussion the sponsor asked for a vote; the committee recorded the motion to send the bill to finance and the clerk announced the tally at the roll call (committee recorded in the transcript as advancing the bill). The committee recorded the motion and forwarded the measure for further consideration by finance.
Provenance: testimony and questions appear in the transcript (see timeline SEG 299'SEG 702).
