Tennessee House Bill HB0274

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/21/25
• Refer: 2/3/25
• Refer: 2/10/25
• Engrossed: 2/20/25
• Enrolled: 2/25/25
• Passed: 3/14/25
• Chaptered: 3/24/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 29 and Title 38, Chapter 7, Part 2, relative to the Tennessee medical examiner advisory council.

Summary

HB0274 makes a narrow administrative change to Tennessee law governing the Tennessee medical examiner advisory council. The bill amends Title 4, Chapter 29, which contains the state’s list of entities subject to periodic review and reauthorization, and Title 38, Chapter 7, Part 2, which creates the advisory council. Specifically, it removes the council from one statutory list and adds it to another, reflecting that the council is now recognized under the correct continuing-authority provision. In practical terms, the bill preserves the Tennessee medical examiner advisory council as an active state entity while aligning the code with its enabling statute. It does not change the council’s duties, membership, or powers; rather, it updates cross-references in the Tennessee Code Annotated so the council is properly categorized for administrative and sunset-review purposes. The bill took effect immediately upon becoming law. The overall sentiment around the bill appears strongly favorable and noncontroversial. It passed the House Government Operations Committee unanimously, then cleared the House on consent calendar passage with no recorded opposition, and later passed the final motion to adopt in the Senate without dissent. The lack of debate or recorded committee testimony suggests it was viewed as a routine technical correction. The main point of contention, if any, would have been procedural rather than substantive: whether the Tennessee medical examiner advisory council was being placed in the correct statutory location within the state’s government-entity review framework. No opposition is reflected in the available votes or discussion materials, and there is no indication that lawmakers disputed the council’s role or the need for the code cleanup.

Impact

HB0274 amends Tennessee Code Annotated Title 4, Chapter 29 and Title 38, Chapter 7, Part 2 by deleting the Tennessee medical examiner advisory council from one list of entities and adding it to another list tied to its enabling statute. This affects the statutory treatment of the council under Tennessee’s government entity review and continuation provisions, but it does not alter the council’s substantive authority, composition, or responsibilities. The bill primarily updates the legal framework to ensure the council is correctly identified in state law.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been received positively and as a routine housekeeping measure. It moved through committee and floor votes unanimously or by consent, with no recorded opposition in the available history. The absence of committee transcript debate suggests broad agreement that the measure was a technical correction rather than a policy change.

Contention

There is no evident substantive controversy in the available record. Any issue raised by the bill would likely have been limited to statutory placement and cross-reference accuracy—specifically, whether the Tennessee medical examiner advisory council should be removed from one Title 4 list and added to the correct continuing-authority provision. No legislators or stakeholders are shown opposing the change, and no competing viewpoints are documented.