AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2; Title 4; Title 22; Title 36; Title 39 and Title 40, relative to rights of citizenship.
Summary
HB1031 makes a narrow change to Tennessee’s laws governing petitions related to rights of citizenship by amending Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-29-104. Under current law as reflected in the bill text, a petitioner is responsible for paying the costs of the application unless the court is satisfied that the petitioner is indigent. The bill deletes and replaces that section with the same rule, indicating a technical or clarifying amendment rather than a substantive policy shift.
The act applies only to petitions filed on or after the effective date, which is upon becoming law. Because the bill text is limited to this single provision, it appears aimed at preserving or restating the existing cost-allocation framework for citizenship-rights petitions, while expressly retaining the indigency exception for petitioners who cannot afford the costs.
Impact
The bill amends Title 40 of the Tennessee Code and affects court filing costs for petitions concerning rights of citizenship. Its practical impact is limited to petitioners in these proceedings and to courts determining whether a petitioner qualifies as indigent for purposes of waiving application costs. No other substantive changes to criminal, family, or citizenship-related statutes are apparent from the text provided.
Sentiment
There is no recorded committee discussion or vote history in the materials provided, so the overall sentiment cannot be measured directly from debate or roll call. Based on the text alone, the bill appears noncontroversial and administrative in nature, with no evident policy dispute beyond the existing indigency standard.
Contention
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided context. If any concern were to arise, it would likely center on whether petition costs should be imposed on applicants and how courts should determine indigency, but the bill text itself does not indicate opposition or competing viewpoints.