Tennessee Senate Bill SB0571

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/30/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 16 and Title 24, relative to evidence.

Summary

SB 571 amends Tennessee’s evidence statutes by increasing the dollar threshold used in Tennessee Code Annotated § 24-5-113(a)(3) from $4,000 to $10,000. The bill is a narrow, technical change to the rules governing evidence, and it does not create a new cause of action or a new evidentiary category; instead, it updates an existing monetary amount in state law. By raising the threshold, the bill changes when the referenced evidentiary rule applies in civil cases involving amounts in controversy or proof tied to a monetary limit. The act takes effect immediately upon becoming law, reflecting the legislature’s view that the change should be implemented without delay.

Impact

The bill directly amends Tennessee Code Annotated § 24-5-113(a)(3), increasing the statutory dollar amount from $4,000 to $10,000. This updates the evidentiary standard or limitation tied to that provision and may affect litigants, attorneys, and courts handling civil matters where the amount at issue is relevant under the statute. Because the bill is limited to a single numeric change, its legal impact is targeted rather than broad, but it does alter the operative threshold in Tennessee evidence law.

Sentiment

There is no recorded committee transcript or vote history in the provided materials, so no detailed debate can be identified. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears to be a straightforward, noncontroversial technical update, and the immediate effective date suggests routine legislative support rather than significant opposition.

Contention

No specific points of contention are documented in the available transcripts or voting history. If any concerns existed, they are not reflected in the provided record. The only notable policy issue apparent from the text is whether the evidentiary dollar threshold should be updated from $4,000 to $10,000, which could affect how the statute operates in civil litigation.