Tennessee House Bill HB1811

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/21/26
• Refer: 2/2/26
• Refer: 3/4/26
• Chaptered: 4/6/26
• Passed: 4/6/26

Caption

AN ACT to revise and codify the general and public statutes of the State of Tennessee, to the extent incorporated herein, as a part of Tennessee Code Annotated; to provide in case of any conflict between Acts of the regular or any extraordinary 2026 Session of the General Assembly and this Act, the former shall be controlling, regardless of the respective dates of passage or approval; and to repeal all acts or parts of acts codified in this Act.

Summary

HB1811 is Tennessee’s annual codification bill, which updates Tennessee Code Annotated by incorporating general and public acts enacted during the prior legislative cycle. The bill is described as a non-substantive housekeeping measure: it revises, codifies, and reenacts existing statutes for organization and publication purposes, rather than creating new policy or changing the meaning of the law. It also states that if there is any conflict between this codification act and other acts passed in the 2026 regular or extraordinary sessions, the other acts control. The bill is lengthy because it includes the statutory text of nearly all general bills passed in the preceding year, assembled into two volumes totaling more than 2,592 pages. Its practical effect is to make the updated Tennessee Code the official compilation of state law and to repeal prior acts or parts of acts that have been codified into the new code. The act takes effect immediately upon becoming law. The overall sentiment around the bill was strongly favorable and largely procedural. It moved through the House Judiciary Committee with a unanimous 18-0 recommendation for passage and then passed the House on third consideration from the consent calendar by a 94-0 vote, indicating broad bipartisan agreement and no recorded opposition. There was little substantive contention because the bill is presented as a codification measure rather than a policy bill. The main point of note is the legal hierarchy provision stating that any conflicting 2026 session acts prevail over the codification text, which preserves the effect of separately enacted legislation. Otherwise, the bill appears to have been treated as a routine annual update to the state code.

Impact

HB1811 updates Tennessee law by incorporating prior-year general and public acts into Tennessee Code Annotated and repealing superseded codified provisions. It affects the organization and official publication of state statutes, but it is not intended to make substantive changes to the law. The bill also establishes that any conflict with other acts from the 2026 regular or extraordinary sessions is resolved in favor of those separate acts, preserving their controlling legal effect.

Sentiment

The bill was received as a routine, noncontroversial codification measure. Committee and floor votes were unanimous or near-unanimous, with no recorded dissent, reflecting broad support and little debate. The absence of committee transcript discussion and the consent-calendar passage further suggest that lawmakers viewed it as administrative housekeeping rather than a contested policy proposal.

Contention

There was minimal contention because the bill is expressly described as making no substantive changes. The only potentially notable issue is the conflict clause, which provides that other 2026 session acts control over the codification text if there is any inconsistency. That provision is a standard safeguard in codification bills and does not appear to have generated opposition in the available record.