New Special Session Bills Roll In, Focus On Hate Crimes, Mental Health Services, And Harsher Consequences For Threats Of Violence
The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
With Tennessee’s special legislative session set to start at 4PM today, August 21st, new pieces of legislation concerning mental health services, threats of violence, guns, public safety and more have absolutely flooded the legislative docket.
Over a hundred House bills have already been filed for this special session, and that’s not even including the sheer number of joint resolutions filed, that have little, if anything at all, to do with the focus for this “extraordinary session.”
The few on-topic resolutions are Democrat-sponsored HJR7015, which urges that “Safe & Secure Firearms in Tennessee” brochures be made available at all Driver Service Centers; HJR7016, which urges TennCare and the Department of Education to apply for federal grants related to student mental health; and HJR7022, which urges relevant state agencies to promote the use of the 988 hotline.
John Harris with the Tennessee Firearms Association speculates that the lack of focus and diversity of bills going into this, leaves the door open for deception and possible 2nd Amendment violations.
A large portion of the bills do come from the Republican majority. However, a good chunk of legislation has rolled in from Tennessee’s Democratic lawmakers as well.
An overview of Democrat-sponsored bills, followed by an overview of Republican-sponsored bills, all filed since last Thursday, is available below.
Each summary is the bill “as introduced” to the legislature initially. Amendments are likely to be made on bills that the legislature decides to move forward with.
It is not currently known how long the special session will last, and more bills could possibly be filed throughout its duration.
Democrat Bills:
Senate Bill 7009 (SB7009), sponsored by Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville-District 19), requires district and school safety plans “to prohibit the possession, carrying, or storage of firearms or firearm ammunition on school property by students; eliminates the authorization to transport or store a firearm or firearm ammunition in a motor vehicle if doing so would be in violation of a school safety plan.”
Senate Bill 7011 (SB7011), sponsored by Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville-District 21) in the Senate and Anthony Davis (D-Davidson County-District 51) in the House, “creates a Class E felony of threatened mass violence for the reckless handling, display, or discharge of a firearm while operating, or as a passenger in, a motor vehicle.”
Also sponsored by Yarbro and Davis is Senate Bill 7012 (SB7012), which requires that by October 2024, the Bureau of Investigation “enter each final disposition of criminal proceedings received by the bureau into the national crime information center and any other databases […] for the purpose of criminal history record checks within 30 days of the bureau’s receipt of the disposition.”
Senate Bill 7013 (SB7013), sponsored by Yarbro in the Senate and Darren Jernigan (D-Old Hickory-District 60) in the House, authorizes the Department of Education “to conduct a pilot program to provide certain mental health services to service recipients upon discharge from an inpatient facility following an involuntary commitment.”
Senate Bill 7014 (SB7014)/ House Bill 7065 (HB7065), sponsored by Yarbro in the Senate and Caleb Hemmer (D-Nashville-District 59) in the House, directs “TennCare to submit to the federal centers for Medicare and Medicaid services an application for a research and demonstration waiver […] to provide housing solutions for Tennesseans in need of mental health services.”
The next five bills are sponsored by G.A. Hardaway (D-Memphis-District 93).
House Bill 7045 (HB7045), House Bill 7046 (HB7046), and House Bill 7057 (HB7057) all use different language but maintain the goal of establishing “a pilot program under which a juvenile court may retain jurisdiction over the child who was adjudicated delinquent for an offense that was eligible to be transferred to criminal court; allows the court to impose a sentence upon the child that could be imposed if the offense was committed by an adult, but any portion of the disposition imposed that extends prior to the child’s twenty-fifth birthday must be stayed pending completion of requirements set forth by the court at the time of disposition.”
House Bill 7077 (HB7077) specifies that a Local Education Agency (LEA) “must provide a responding law enforcement agency with immediate access to the LEA’s security systems” during drills or emergency situations.
House Bill 7078 (HB7078), “requires a sentencing court to order a defendant convicted of stalking, aggravated stalking, or especially aggravated stalking to carry or wear a global positioning monitoring system device,” and unless the defendant is “indigent” they must pay the costs of operating that system device for at least a year.
The following three pieces of legislation are sponsored by John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville-District 55).
House Bill 7049 (HB7049), “creates the Class C felony of knowingly inducing or coercing a minor under 18 to commit theft of a firearm or a robbery or burglary offense involving theft of a firearm from a residence or motor vehicle.”
House Bill 7050 (HB7050), “requires the department of safety to distribute firearm locks to each county’s sheriff for distribution to members of the public; requires each sheriff to distribute firearm locks to any person who makes a request; authorizes the sheriff to distribute multiple locks to the same person; authorizes transfers of locks amongst sheriffs based on demand.”
House Bill 7051 (HB7051), requires the Administrative Office of the Courts “to establish an extended pilot program for the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders to be administered by clerks of juvenile courts in this state.”
House Bill 7055 (HB7055), sponsored by Yusuf Hakeem (D-Chattanooga-District 28), “creates the Class A misdemeanor of knowingly selling, loaning, or making a gift of a firearm to a minor for the purpose of inducing or coercing the minor to commit an offense; subjects a person convicted for such offense to civil liability for any criminal act committed by the minor.”
Also sponsored by Hakeem is House Bill 7056 (HB7056), which “expands the offense of aggravated stalking to include persons who purchase a semi-automatic rifle or attempt to use a semi-automatic rifle for the course and furtherance of stalking.”
House Bill 7061 (HB7061), sponsored by Harold Love Jr. (D-Nashville-District 58), “requires the department to annually notify each [LEA] in writing of all state and federal grant programs available to assist the LEA in expanding mental health services and resources in schools.”
House Bill 7066 (HB7066), sponsored by Rep. Jernigan, “enacts the ‘Temporary Youth Mental Health Services Program Act.’” The intention would be to temporarily cover external mental health services for Tennessee youth who have experienced “exacerbated” mental health issues due to the fallout of Covid-19.
House Bill 7068 (HB7068), sponsored by Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis-District 98), “creates a Class D felony offense for an adult criminal gang member who induces or coerces a minor to steal a firearm; makes the adult criminal gang member criminally responsible for offenses the minor commits with stolen firearm.”
Also sponsored by Parkinson is House Bill 7069 (HB7069), which “authorizes the governor to expand Medicaid for mental health prevention and treatment pursuant to the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; authorizes the governor to negotiate with the federal centers for Medicare and Medicaid services to determine the terms of the expansion.”
Bob Freeman (D-Nashville-District 56) is sponsoring the next five bills.
House Bill 7074 (HB7074), “encourages lawful owners and possessors of firearms to store guns safely in a locked compartment; with a trigger locking device; or with a locked device rendering the firearm inaccessible to a person other than the owner or person in lawful possession of the firearm and immovable from the stored location.”
House Bill 7075 (HB7075), require firearms stored in vehicles to be stored “out of plain sight” and “requires a person who purchases a firearm, or who applies for a permit to carry a handgun either openly or concealed, to sign an affidavit on a form prescribed by the department of safety affirming that the applicant will, while not lawfully carrying the firearm,” store it using the same methods described above for HB7074.
House Bill 7076 (HB7076) requires the Department of Education to allocate “sufficient funds” to each LEA in order to “employ one full-time licensed professional school counselor position for every 250 student members of the LEA or one full-time position for the LEA and for each public charter school within the LEA, whichever is greater.”
House Bill 7099 (HB7099), “allows a court to issue a risk protection order upon a finding by clear and convincing evidence that a person poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to the person or others if allowed to possess or purchase a firearm; authorizes a law enforcement officer to petition for the risk protection order.”
House Bill 7101 (HB7101), “establishes a process for law enforcement to petition a circuit court for a temporary mental health order of protection for a person who poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to themselves others by having a firearm.”
House Bill 7079 (HB7079), sponsored by Karen Camper (D-Memphis-District 87), “requires a federally licensed firearm dealer to install a firearm safety device on a firearm before delivering the firearm to a purchaser if the purchaser is not a federally licensed firearm dealer; defines a firearm safety device as a device that, when installed on a firearm, is designed to prevent the firearm from being operated without first deactivating the device.”
House Bill 7080 (HB7080), sponsored by Justin Jones (D-Nashville-District 52), “enhances the penalty for the offense of reckless endangerment when a person’s reckless failure to render inoperable or safely secure or lock a firearm, results in a child under 13 years of age gaining possession of the firearm and committing an act of mass violence that injures [Class E Felony] or kills [Class C Felony] the child or another.”
House Bill 7087 (HB7087), sponsored by Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville-District 90), goes hand in hand with a slew of bills filed by Rep. Davis that seemingly would invent new hate crime categories.
HB7087 “provides that when a person commits stalking, aggravated stalking, or especially aggravated stalking, and the offense was committed due to the defendant’s bias motivation against the victim, then the offense is a hate crime and shall be punished one classification higher than otherwise provided.”
The following ten bills are sponsored by Torrey Harris (D-Memphis-District 91).
House Bill 7088 (HB7088), enacts the “Mental Health Parity Act,” and states that “every state healthcare entity shall provide coverage for the treatment of mental health or substance use disorders in accordance with the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.”
House Bill 7089 (HB7089), “requires that a law enforcement officer detain a person for mental health examination prior to issuing a charge or arrest if the officer has reason to believe the person is subject to detention for the purpose of examination for certification of need for care and treatment.”
House Bill 7090 (HB7090), “requires the department, in the months of November 2023, February 2024, and May 2024, to use its existing permanent electronic overhead informational displays located on the interstate system to provide periodic messages to the motoring public that encourage the safe storage of firearms.”
House Bill 7091 (HB7091), “creates the Class E felony of knowingly threatening to commit an act of mass violence against another and frightening the other person; classifies the offense as a hate crime, to be punished one classification higher than otherwise provided, if the offense was committed by carrying a firearm into certain venues.”
House Bill 7092 (HB7092), “adds local law enforcement officials to those who are appointed to each district-wide school safety team; specifies that each district-wide school safety team and each building-level school safety team shall annually review the respective [safety plan].”
House Bill 7093 (HB7093), “requires the department of safety, in conjunction with the department of education to, at least once every three years, conduct an inspection of the facilities of each public school in this state that serves students in pre-K-12 to assess the safety and security of the public school’s facilities.”
House Bill 7094 (HB7094), “creates the Class E felony of knowingly threatening to commit an act of mass violence against another and frightening the other person; classifies the offense as a hate crime, to be punished one classification higher than otherwise provided, if the offense was committed due to a bias motivation.”
House Bill 7095 (HB7095), “adds to requirements for school safety plans that the plans include measures to ensure district employees, including substitute teachers, have classroom access to communications devices that allow for immediate contact with first responders.”
House Bill 7096 (HB7096), “requires the department of education to establish a school bulletproofing grant program to provide grants to public schools located in counties with a crime rate of 13 percent or higher for violent offenses, for the purpose of offsetting expenses for the installation of bulletproof film on doors and windows.”
House Bill 7097 (HB7097), requires the Department of Education “to report in detail to the general assembly” any threats of violence reported by public schools, by January 1st each year.
Republican Bills:
Senate Bill 7007 (SB7007), sponsored by Dawn White (R-Murfreesboro-District 13) in the Senate and Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville-District 25), directs the Administrative Office of the Courts “ to define and develop a centralized system of case management, document management, electronic case filing, electronic payment methods, data reporting, and any other capability deemed necessary for collection and reporting of all state and local court public case level data.”
Senate Bill 7008 (SB7008), sponsored by Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin-District 18) in the Senate and Mark Cochran (R-Englewood-District 23) in the House, “expands the statutory duty that qualified mental health professionals and licensed behavior analysts have to notify potential victims and law enforcement of an actual threat of bodily harm against a clearly identified victim made by a person receiving mental health services to apply to additional healthcare providers and include credible threats without a clearly identifiable victim.”
Senate Bill 7010 (SB7010), sponsored by Ed Jackson (R-Jackson-District 25) in the Senate and Mary Littleton (R-Dickson-District 78) in the House, “requires juvenile offenders 16 years of age or more who are alleged to have committed certain offenses and meeting certain other criteria to be transferred to adult criminal court for disposition as if the juvenile were an adult.”
The next three bills are sponsored by House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland-District 44).
House Bill 7027 (HB7027), “requires the state to pay the cost of a court-ordered mental health evaluation and treatment for criminal defendants who have been charged with a misdemeanor and are believed to be incompetent to stand trial or for whom there is a question about mental capacity at the time of the offense.”
House Bill 7040 (HB7040), “establishes the designation of a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and enumerates the permitted activities for an individual with such designation.”
House Bill 7041 (HB7041), “requires the bureau to submit a report on child and human trafficking crimes and trends in this state, based upon data available to the bureau, as well as current programs and activities of the bureau’s human trafficking unit, to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the speaker of the senate,” by December 1st each year.
The following three bills are sponsored by Rusty Grills (R-Newbern-District 77).
House Bill 7030 (HB7030) and House Bill 7031 (HB7031), seek to expand “the offenses for which a juvenile court may transfer a child to be tried as an adult in criminal court, if the child was 16 years of age or more at the time of the offense.” These bills also add an appeals process for a criminal court to review a juvenile court’s “determination for such transfers.”
House Bill 7062 (HB7062) “authorizes the Tennessee bureau of investigation to inspect files and records of the court in a juvenile court proceeding for the purposes of complying with the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 and the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007.”
Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville-District 25) is sponsoring the following eleven bills.
House Bill 7032 (HB7032), “requires health insurance carriers, including TennCare providers, to provide mental health services and treatment to the same extent that the carriers and providers provide alcoholism and drug dependence services and treatment.”
House Bill 7033 (HB7033), “requires a bail hearing, which must be open to the public, before a defendant who has been arrested or held to answer for a bailable offense may be admitted to bail.”
House Bill 7034 (HB7034), “raises from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony knowingly violating an order of protection or a restraining order issued due to domestic abuse when based on stalking; raises the classification range for stalking from a Class A misdemeanor or Class E felony to a Class E or D felony; raises the classification of aggravated stalking from a Class E to a Class D felony; requires a court to order a mental health assessment of a defendant’s need for mental health treatment if convicted of a stalking offense, at cost to the defendant unless indigent.”
House Bill 7035 (HB7035), “establishes a loan forgiveness program for psychiatrists, psychologists, and counselors.” These types of programs are often established by states as an incentive for healthcare workers to continue to live and work in certain communities.
House Bill 7036 (HB7036), “changes prerequisites for emergency detention and admission to a treatment facility from ‘immediate’ substantial likelihood of serious harm to ‘imminent’ substantial likelihood of serious harm”
House Bill 7071 (HB7071), requires the Bureau of Investigation “to submit a report on the number of mass shootings that occur in this state to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the speaker of the senate” by January 1st of each year.
House Bill 7081 (HB7081), “expands the information a person with knowledge of a threat of mass violence must report to the local law enforcement agency to include the approximate age of the person making the threat.”
House Bill 7082 (HB7082), simply “changes the date by which managed care organizations participating in the TennCare program must submit an annual report related to coverage of mental health treatment.”
House Bill 7083 (HB7083), “requires the department of health to conduct a study of laws in contiguous states concerning certifications and training programs required for healthcare professionals to provide mental health services.”
House Bill 7084 (HB7084), “expands the duty to warn of an actual threat of bodily harm to include all healthcare providers, not just mental health professionals and behavior analysts.”
House Bill 7085 (HB7085), “states that the juvenile court records of a person who was transferred from juvenile court to be tried as an adult in criminal court and who is subsequently convicted may be expunged only by a court order issued under the court in which the person was convicted.”
House Bill 7038 (HB7038), sponsored by Ron Gant (R-Piperton-District 94), “requires the department of education to establish a school safety alert grant program to provide grants to LEAs to offset expenses incurred by schools for the installation of school safety alert systems.”
Also sponsored by Gant is House Bill 7039 (HB7039), which “makes appropriations to provide funding for any legislation enacted during the first extraordinary session of the 113th General Assembly that creates a grant program to assist LEAs and public charter schools with costs for school safety alert systems.”
House Bill 7042 (HB7042), sponsored by Jody Barrett (R-Dickson-District 69), “requires the department to audit each public school in this state to assess its compliance with all applicable safety laws, rules, and policies designed to ensure the safety of students, staff, and visitors in the event of an active threat or active shooter situation on school premises, and to report the results of the audit to the general assembly.” Audits would be required at least every five years.
Barrett is also sponsoring House Bill 7043 (HB7043), which “authorizes persons with an enhanced handgun carry permit to carry a handgun on school property unless the person knows that the respective school provides armed security on the school property; removes certain exemptions of a law enforcement officer’s authority to possess a firearm on school property; authorizes certain community corrections officers to possess a handgun on school property.”
House Bill 7044 (HB7044), sponsored by William Slater (R-Gallatin-District 35), requires LEAs “to post a notice in a conspicuous place on each school bus […] to notify others that no person shall enter onto school buses except for those authorized; requires new bus drivers and transportation supervisors to receive training regarding procedures concerning persons improperly on school buses.”
House Bill 7048 (HB7048), sponsored by Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka-District 64), “authorizes physician assistants to be designated professionals in order to complete the first certificate of need in support of hospitalization for a person when other specified professionals are not available.”
Also sponsored by Cepicky is House Bill 7059 (HB7059), which “authorizes a law enforcement agency to assign a law enforcement officer to serve as a school resource officer at a school […] that has not adopted a policy to assign a school resource officer.”
House Bill 7052 (HB7052), sponsored by Mike Sparks (R-Smyrna-District 49), “requires hospitals to update the psychiatric bed tracking system at least daily.”
Also sponsored by Sparks is House Bill 7053 (HB7053), which “permanently exempts from sales and use tax, the retail sale of gun safes and gun safety devices; removes the temporary sales tax holiday.”
House Bill 7054 (HB7054), sponsored by Rep. Littleton, “exempts a person from civil liability for damages, injuries, or death resulting from or arising out of the theft of the person’s firearm that is properly stored in the person’s motor vehicle unless the person commits an offense involving the use of the stored firearm or intentionally solicits or procures the conduct resulting in damage, injury, or death.”
House Bill 7063 (HB7063), sponsored by Tim Rudd (R-Murfreesboro-District 34), “authorizes LEAs and public charter schools to employ retired law enforcement officers who are retired from a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency and honorably discharged veterans of the United States armed forces to serve as school resource officers on school premises; requires local boards of education and public charter school governing bodies to adopt policies to effectuate same.”
House Bill 7064 (HB7064), sponsored by Chris Todd (R-Madison County-District 73), “allows law enforcement officers, whether on-duty or off-duty, retired law enforcement officers, active duty and retired members of the armed forces of the United States, whether in discharge of official duties or not, and enhanced handgun carry permit holders, except in certain circumstances, to possess or carry, whether openly or concealed, with or without the intent to go armed, a handgun in any public school building or bus, on any public school campus, grounds, recreation area, athletic field, or any other property owned, operated, or while in use by any public board of education, school, college, or university board of trustees, regents, or directors for the administration of any public educational institution.”
House Bill 7086 (HB7086), sponsored by Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville-District 42), “authorizes a faculty or staff member of a school to carry a concealed handgun on school grounds subject to certain conditions, including obtaining an enhanced handgun carry permit and completing basic training in school policing.”
House Bill 7098 (HB7098), sponsored by Sabi ‘Doc’ Kumar (R-Springfield-District 66), requires the Department of Safety “to establish the ‘Tennessee voluntary do not sell firearms list’ to prohibit the possession, transportation, and sale of firearms to any person who is voluntarily admitted to a public or private hospital or treatment resource for diagnosis, observation, and treatment of a mental illness or serious emotional disturbance and voluntarily registers to be enrolled to the list.”
House Bill 7102 (HB7102), sponsored by Lowell Russell (R-Vonore-District 21), “requires an LEA to provide its students with a certain minimum amount of social interaction time each month depending on the amount of instruction being provided to students each month.”
Get caught up with the bill filed prior to last Thursday in our overviews linked below:
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
Rep. Greg Martin, in a video today, said all these bills would be given due consideration and that he would not infringe on my constitutional right to self defense.
I believe Rep. Martin misses the point. I didn’t want the special session called in the first place. There is no emergency for which to call a special session.
All these bills will not be given “due consideration”. I believe this is a case of Republican me tooism. Look at us we care!
As far as Rep. Martin’s assurance that he won’t vote for any bill that infringes on my constitutional rights, I’d be willing to bet, votes have been counted for the bills the GOP/DEM Uniparty wants passed. Controversial votes will be passed by those who are safe for reelection. And we’ll hear words such as, “no one got everything they wanted but your elected representatives did their best!.
Rep. Martin, simply call for special session to be adjourned when you are called to order!
I may have missed it (understandably) but not one of these bills calls out sexual deviants as a catagory of mentally ill, unift topossess firearms, which is really what all this is a about.
Until 1973, homosexuality was considered a mental illness.
Since then, “tolerance” and crime have risen concurrently.
Ordinarily, this would have been investigated as a disease vector had not politics become a disease vector all by iteslef.