AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 40, Chapter 29, relative to voting rights.
Summary
SB1119 amends Tennessee’s restoration-of-rights process for people with felony convictions by adding a child support requirement. Under the bill, a person would not be eligible to apply for a voter registration card and have the right of suffrage restored unless they are current on all child support obligations. The bill also creates a provisional restoration path: a person may apply if they enter into a payment plan to become current on unpaid child support, but that provisional status can be revoked if they willfully fail to follow the plan.
If provisional restoration is revoked, the court must provide court-appointed counsel and give the person an opportunity to be heard and to present evidence of financial inability to pay, including a signed affidavit of indigency. The Secretary of State, working with the Department of Human Services and the Administrative Office of the Courts, is authorized to adopt rules to implement the act. The bill takes effect July 1, 2025, and applies to people applying for voter registration cards on or after that date.
Impact
The bill would amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 40, Chapter 29, by conditioning restoration of voting rights on compliance with child support obligations. It would add a new eligibility barrier for people seeking to regain suffrage after a disqualifying conviction, while also creating a provisional restoration mechanism tied to payment plans and judicial review. The measure would affect formerly incarcerated individuals, child support obligors, courts handling restoration petitions, and state agencies responsible for voter registration and child support enforcement.
Sentiment
No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no documented debate or vote-based sentiment to assess. Based on the text alone, the bill appears to reflect a policy preference for linking voting-rights restoration to family-support compliance, with procedural protections included for those facing revocation of provisional status. The absence of recorded opposition or support in the provided materials means overall sentiment cannot be determined from the legislative history supplied.
Contention
The main point of contention is likely the bill’s requirement that people be current on child support before regaining voting rights, which could be viewed as an additional barrier to suffrage restoration. Supporters may argue that the measure promotes responsibility and child support compliance, while critics may contend it ties a fundamental civic right to a financial obligation and could disproportionately affect low-income individuals. A secondary issue is the provisional restoration process, including whether courts and agencies can administer payment-plan compliance and indigency determinations consistently.