Tennessee 114th General Assembly Status: Enacted Bipartisan · 4 R · 1 D cosponsors

SB 0944 — AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 33; Title 39 and Title 40, relative to criminal offenses involving abuse.

Last action — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 511

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

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 05, 2025. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Bill Lee (Republican) on April 30, 2025.

Odds of enactment

High chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a high chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 96% · high confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 5 sponsors

    1 primary, 4 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (4 R · 1 D) — cross-party backing.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 3 recorded votes so far.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

Criminal Offenses - As enacted, requires the department of mental health and substance abuse services to establish a mental health evaluation process for a community mental health center or qualified mental health professional to evaluate a defendant convicted of domestic assault, child abuse, aggravated child abuse, cruelty to animals, aggravated cruelty to animals; requires a court in which a person is convicted of any such offense to order the offender to undergo a mental health evaluation prior to the sentencing hearing. - Amends TCA Title 33; Title 39 and Title 40.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Filed for introduction

  2. Intro., P1C.

  3. P2C, caption bill, held on desk - pending amdt.

  4. Ref. to Judiciary Committee

  5. Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee

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

  7. Sponsor(s) Added.

  8. Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Judiciary Committee

  9. Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 3/19/2025

  10. Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  11. Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee

  12. Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 3/26/2025

  13. Placed behind the budget

  14. Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/14/2025

  15. Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/17/2025

  16. Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  17. Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee

  18. Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/17/2025

  19. H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/21/2025

  20. Sponsor(s) Added.

  21. Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0121)

  22. H. adopted am. (Amendment 2 - HA0500)

  23. H. adopted am. (Amendment 3 - HA0501)

  24. Passed H., as am., Ayes 93, Nays 0, PNV 1

  25. Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  26. Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  27. Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.

  28. Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0211)

  29. Passed Senate, Ayes 30, Nays 2

  30. Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.

  31. Signed by H. Speaker

  32. Signed by Senate Speaker

  33. Transmitted to Governor for his action.

  34. Signed by Governor.

  35. Pub. Ch. 511

  36. Effective date(s) 05/21/2025, 01/01/2026

  37. Filed for introduction

  38. Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

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

  40. Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/24/2025

  41. Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/25/2025

  42. Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0

  43. Rule #83(8) Suspended, to be heard in Senate Finance, Ways & Means Committee on 4/15/2025

  44. Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/15/2025

  45. Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/21/2025

  46. Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  47. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/22/2025

  48. Companion House Bill substituted

  49. Sponsor(s) Added.

  50. Comp. became Pub. Ch. 511

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 4 co-sponsors · 128 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (4)

Not signed on (128)

128 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 128 →

"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

Votes

Subjects

public-safety 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 SB 0944 do?
Criminal Offenses - As enacted, requires the department of mental health and substance abuse services to establish a mental health evaluation process for a community mental health center or qualified mental health professional to evaluate a defendant convicted of domestic assault, child abuse, aggravated child abuse, cruelty to animals, aggravated cruelty to animals; requires a court in which a person is convicted of any such offense to order the offender to undergo a mental health evaluation prior to the sentencing hearing. - Amends TCA Title 33; Title 39 and Title 40.
Who sponsors SB 0944?
SB 0944 is sponsored by Massey, Becky D. (Republican), Hatcher, Tom (Republican), Reeves, Shane (Republican), White, Dawn (Republican), and Yarbro, Jeff (Democrat).
What is the current status of SB 0944?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 05, 2025. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 0944?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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