Tennessee Senate Bill SB1464

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 6/9/25
• Engrossed: 3/9/26
• Enrolled: 3/26/26
• Passed: 4/13/26
• Chaptered: 4/27/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 10; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40; Title 41 and Chapter 253 of the Public Acts of 2021, relative to confidential records.

Summary

SB1464 creates a broad confidentiality regime for records and information tied to the operational enforcement of federal and state immigration laws. It requires state and local governmental entities to keep confidential certain identifying information about officers, agents, and officials involved in immigration enforcement, including names when paired with contact information or home addresses, names whose disclosure could endanger safety or compromise undercover work, and details about future enforcement operations such as dates, locations, logistics, and strategies. The bill also preserves exceptions for information made public by federal law or court order, for disclosures needed to facilitate law enforcement, and for certain misconduct investigations and judicial records. The bill also adds criminal and administrative penalties for improper disclosure. A state or local official who, acting with criminal negligence, releases protected information commits a Class E felony and may be subject to ouster. The measure amends Tennessee’s public records law to add specific exemptions for undercover officers and certain confidential law-enforcement information, and it revises related definitions and penalty provisions in the Tennessee Code. Several provisions take effect immediately upon enactment, while the remaining enforcement provisions apply starting July 1, 2026.

Impact

The bill amends multiple titles of the Tennessee Code, including the state’s public records and local government provisions, to create new confidentiality protections for immigration-enforcement-related information and to expand penalties for unauthorized disclosure. It preempts conflicting state and local policies, procedures, or rules, and it changes existing public records exemptions to cover undercover law-enforcement identities and related sensitive records. It also updates ouster law to include criminally negligent release of this protected information as a ground for removal, affecting both state and local officials.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been generally supported by legislative majorities, passing the Senate State & Local Government Committee and later clearing floor votes by substantial margins. The voting history suggests broad agreement with the goal of protecting law-enforcement personnel and sensitive immigration-enforcement operations, though the failed motion to adopt Amendment #2 indicates that at least one proposed change was controversial. Overall, the bill’s final passage reflects a favorable sentiment toward strengthening confidentiality and enforcement protections.

Contention

The main points of contention center on the scope of secrecy and the severity of penalties. Supporters framed the bill as necessary to protect officers, undercover operations, and public safety, while critics of similar measures typically raise concerns about reduced transparency, limits on public oversight, and the risk of criminalizing disclosure by government employees. The failed amendment vote suggests disagreement over how the bill should be refined, but the available record does not identify the specific amendment rationale or the identities of the principal opponents beyond the recorded no votes.