Tennessee Senate Bill SB2402

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/2/26
• Engrossed: 3/23/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 10, Chapter 7, Part 5; Title 24; Title 37 and Title 38, relative to children.

Summary

SB2402 requires the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services to record all interviews of children conducted by department employees during investigations of abuse or dependency and neglect. The recordings may be audio or video, and the bill creates limited exceptions when the employee reasonably believed the interview was being recorded but equipment failed, or when unforeseen circumstances prevented recording. The bill also states that a failure to record an interview does not make any child statement or other evidence from the interview inadmissible in court. Any recordings made under the bill are confidential under existing law governing child welfare records. The act takes effect July 1, 2026.

Impact

The bill amends Tennessee law in Title 37 governing child welfare investigations by imposing a new documentation requirement on the Department of Children’s Services for interviews of children in abuse and neglect cases. It does not change evidentiary admissibility rules for statements or other evidence obtained from unrecorded interviews, but it does create a mandatory recording practice for department employees, subject to narrow exceptions, and preserves confidentiality of the recordings under existing statutes.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests strong bipartisan or at least broad legislative support for the bill. It passed the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously 9-0 with an amendment and then passed the Senate floor 28-0 as amended. No committee transcript is available, but the recorded votes indicate little to no opposition in the legislative process.

Contention

The main policy issue appears to be balancing child-protection investigation practices with evidentiary reliability and administrative feasibility. Supporters likely favor recording interviews to improve transparency, accuracy, and accountability in abuse and neglect investigations. Any concerns would center on technical failures, unforeseen circumstances, and whether a missed recording should affect court proceedings; the bill addresses those concerns by creating exceptions and expressly preserving admissibility of evidence even when an interview is not recorded.