Tennessee Senate Bill SB1602

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/12/26
• Engrossed: 4/6/26
• Enrolled: 4/29/26
• Passed: 5/22/26
• Chaptered: 5/27/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, Chapter 13 and Title 55, Chapter 10, relative to leaving the scene of an accident.

Summary

SB1602, known as the "James Bardsley, Jr. Life Protection Act," amends Tennessee’s hit-and-run laws to increase the penalty for leaving the scene of an accident when the driver knew or reasonably should have known that the accident resulted in death. The bill makes that offense a Class E felony and adds a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in confinement, with 100% service of that year, plus a fine between $5,000 and $10,000. The bill applies prospectively to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2026. It amends Tennessee Code Annotated in Title 55, Chapter 10, and is paired with a reference to Title 39, Chapter 13 in the caption, reflecting its criminal-law focus on fatal crash conduct and punishment enhancements.

Impact

The bill strengthens Tennessee’s criminal penalties for fatal hit-and-run offenses by creating a more severe sentencing floor and mandatory service requirement for qualifying violations. It affects drivers involved in accidents resulting in death, prosecutors, courts, and sentencing practices by requiring incarceration and a specified fine, and it updates the state’s traffic/criminal code provisions governing duties after an accident.

Sentiment

The available voting history shows strong bipartisan support and no recorded opposition in the final stages. The Senate Judiciary Committee recommended passage unanimously, and subsequent floor votes in both chambers passed overwhelmingly, including unanimous concurrence on the House amendment. The bill’s title and naming suggest a public-safety and victim-protection rationale that appears to have been broadly accepted.

Contention

There is little evidence of substantive controversy in the available record. The only recorded dissent appears on a House amendment vote, which passed 89-2, indicating limited disagreement over the amendment process rather than the bill’s core policy. Any contention likely centered on the severity of the mandatory minimum sentence, the 100% service requirement, and the increased fine, but the final votes suggest those concerns did not prevent enactment.