Tennessee 114th General Assembly Status: Passed House 12 R cosponsors

HB 0221 — AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 28 and Title 39, relative to civil liability.

Last action — Returned to the Clerk's Desk.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has passed the House. Introduced January 21, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.

Next likely step: consideration and a floor vote in the Senate.

Prognosis

Advancing 38% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Moderate

How often bills like it became law.

  • Passed House

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 12 sponsors

    1 primary, 11 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (12 R).

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

Obscenity and Pornography - As introduced, specifies that a commercial entity that knowingly possesses, promotes, purchases, produces, sells, sends, transports, or distributes obscene matter in violation of state law may be held civilly liable to an individual for nominal damages, actual damages, punitive damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney fees. - Amends TCA Title 28 and Title 39.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Returned to the Clerk's Desk.

  2. Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/26/2025

  3. Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee

  4. Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/18/2025

  5. Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/18/2025

  6. Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to Final Calendar #2

  7. Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 3/18/2025

  8. Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/11/2025

  9. Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 3/12/2025

  10. Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/12/2025

  11. Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 3/5/25

  12. Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/5/2025

  13. Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 2/26/2025

  14. Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  15. Taken off notice for cal in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee of Judiciary Committee

  16. Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  17. Sponsor(s) Added.

  18. Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 2/12/2025

  19. P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee

  20. Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee

  21. Filed for introduction

  22. Intro., P1C.

  23. Filed for introduction

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 11 co-sponsors · 121 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (11)

Not signed on (121)

121 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 121 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

civil-rights
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HB 0221 do?
Obscenity and Pornography - As introduced, specifies that a commercial entity that knowingly possesses, promotes, purchases, produces, sells, sends, transports, or distributes obscene matter in violation of state law may be held civilly liable to an individual for nominal damages, actual damages, punitive damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney fees. - Amends TCA Title 28 and Title 39.
Who sponsors HB 0221?
HB 0221 is sponsored by Barrett, Jody (Republican), Powers, Dennis (Republican), Keisling, Kelly (Republican), Warner, Todd (Republican), Reneau, Michele (Republican), Hulsey, Bud (Republican), Capley, Kip (Republican), McCalmon, Jake (Republican), Butler, Ed (Republican), Hill, Timothy (Republican), Fritts, Monty (Republican), and Sparks, Mike (Republican).
What is the current status of HB 0221?
This bill has passed the House. Introduced January 21, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.
Where can I track HB 0221?
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Last checked for changes 4 months ago · updated continuously

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