AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 37; Title 39 and Title 40, relative to criminal offenses.
Summary
HB0751 amends Tennessee’s criminal child abuse statute to create a specific offense for knowingly, by act or omission, placing a child in imminent danger of death, bodily injury, or physical or mental impairment when the conduct involves unlawful exposure to fentanyl or certain related opioids. The bill specifies that if a child is exposed to fentanyl, carfentanil, remifentanil, alfentanil, thiafentanil, or a fentanyl derivative or analogue, and a bodily specimen shows the substance in the child’s body, that conduct qualifies as imminent danger under the statute.
The bill also sets the penalty level for this offense: it is generally a Class E felony, but it becomes a Class B felony if the abused child is eight years old or younger. The act takes effect July 1, 2025, and amends Tennessee Code Annotated sections in Titles 37, 39, and 40, with the core change focused on Title 39’s child abuse provisions.
Impact
HB0751 expands Tennessee criminal law by expressly tying child endangerment and abuse liability to fentanyl exposure, giving prosecutors a clearer statutory basis to charge cases involving a child’s exposure to dangerous opioids. It adds a new subdivision to the child abuse statute and increases the seriousness of the offense when the victim is age eight or under, affecting parents, caregivers, and any person whose conduct unlawfully exposes a child to these substances.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have broad bipartisan support and moved through the legislative process with strong favorable votes at each stage. Committee recommendations and floor votes were overwhelmingly positive, with only a small number of dissenting votes in the House and near-unanimous concurrence on the Senate amendment, suggesting general agreement with the bill’s child-protection and anti-fentanyl goals.
Contention
The main point of contention appears to be the scope and mechanics of the new offense, particularly the use of a bodily-specimen test to establish fentanyl exposure and the broad inclusion of fentanyl derivatives and analogues. Any debate likely centered on ensuring the statute is precise enough for enforcement while still capturing dangerous conduct, but the recorded votes indicate limited opposition overall.