Tennessee Senate Bill SB2543

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/2/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8; Title 10; Title 33; Title 36; Title 37; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40; Title 41; Title 49; Title 50; Title 55 and Title 70, relative to criminal justice.

Summary

SB2543 is a narrow criminal justice bill that amends Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-16-202(a)(1), by reducing a time period from five days to three days. Based on the cited statute, the change appears to affect the offense of failure to appear or a related criminal procedure provision, shortening the amount of time involved in the statutory requirement. The bill does not make broad changes across the many titles listed in its caption; the operative text is limited to a single statutory amendment. In practical terms, the bill would alter how Tennessee law treats the relevant criminal justice deadline or notice period, potentially making the law more responsive or more stringent depending on the underlying statute’s application. Because the bill takes effect immediately upon becoming law, the change would apply as soon as enacted and would directly affect courts, prosecutors, defendants, and any other parties governed by that section of the criminal code.

Impact

The bill amends Tennessee’s criminal code by changing a statutory period in Title 39 from five days to three days, thereby modifying the operation of Section 39-16-202(a)(1). This would require courts and criminal justice actors to apply the shorter timeframe in cases governed by that provision, and it may affect compliance obligations, charging decisions, or procedural deadlines tied to the statute.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests the bill was received favorably in committee, passing the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously with a 9-0 recommendation for passage with amendment(s). No committee transcript is available, so there is no recorded floor or committee debate to indicate opposition or broader controversy. Overall, the bill appears to have had a low-conflict, technical criminal justice profile.

Contention

There is no documented committee discussion in the provided materials, and the only recorded vote was unanimous in committee. As a result, no specific points of contention are evident from the record provided. If any disagreement existed, it is not reflected in the available transcripts or vote summary.