Tennessee Senate Bill SB1735

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/15/26
• Engrossed: 2/23/26
• Enrolled: 3/13/26
• Passed: 3/26/26
• Chaptered: 4/6/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 47, relative to consumer protection.

Summary

SB 1735 revises several provisions of Tennessee’s consumer protection and related trade-practice laws. The bill expands the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act by adding new unfair or deceptive practices, including advertising or selling radar jamming devices, making promises to pay traffic citations tied to the purchase of such devices, and advertising or offering for sale goods or services that are illegal to sell in Tennessee. It also makes a violation of Tennessee Code Annotated § 47-50-121 a per se violation of the Consumer Protection Act, thereby subjecting that conduct to the Act’s remedies and penalties. The bill also makes a series of targeted procedural and substantive changes. It narrows and clarifies certain private-right-of-action language, adjusts a provision involving claims brought on behalf of others, and amends discovery rules in attorney general enforcement actions by limiting the presumed possession or control of legislative and state-government documents. In addition, it removes language related to data generated from photographs, video, or audio recordings in one consumer-protection-related section. Several provisions take effect immediately, while others are delayed until July 1, 2026, and the bill applies retroactively to causes of action arising before its effective date and to pending litigation for the sections that take immediate effect.

Impact

SB 1735 amends Title 47 of the Tennessee Code by broadening the list of prohibited unfair or deceptive acts under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act and by tying additional statutory violations into that enforcement scheme. It creates new exposure for sellers and advertisers of radar jamming or speed-detection interference devices, and for businesses advertising goods or services that are unlawful to sell in Tennessee. It also gives the Attorney General and affected parties clearer enforcement and discovery rules in consumer-protection litigation, while modifying certain private enforcement and publication-related provisions.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests the bill was generally supported, though not unanimously. It advanced out of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee by an 8-1 vote, then passed third consideration in the Senate 26-6, and later received broader floor approval on regular calendar passage by a 67-17 vote. The pattern indicates overall bipartisan support for the consumer-protection changes, with a minority of members remaining opposed.

Contention

The main points of contention appear to be the scope of the new consumer-protection prohibitions and the bill’s litigation-related changes. Potential concerns include whether the bill reaches too broadly by treating sales or advertising of unlawful goods and radar-jamming devices as consumer-protection violations, and whether the retroactive application to pending and prior causes of action is appropriate. The discovery limitation in attorney general actions and the adjustments to private-right-of-action language may also have raised procedural concerns among opponents, although no committee transcript is available to identify specific arguments.