Criminal Procedure

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material did not provide information on whether the bill specifies which members of the General Assembly are allowed to witness executions or if it requires immediate effect upon passage.

Bearing Witness to the Death Penalty Act

This bill would allow members of the Tennessee General Assembly to witness death penalty executions.

What This Bill Does

• Adds members of the Tennessee General Assembly as authorized witnesses for death penalty executions.

Who It Names or Affects

• Members of the Tennessee General Assembly
• People involved in carrying out death sentences

Terms To Know

Death sentence

A punishment given by a court for certain very serious crimes, where the person is sentenced to die.

Condemned person

The person who has been found guilty of a crime and sentenced to death.

Limits and Unknowns

• Does not specify which members of the General Assembly are allowed to witness executions.
• This bill did not pass in its session.

Official Summary Text

Present law provides that the only
witnesses entitled to be present at the carrying out of
a
death sentence
in this state
are
the following persons:



The warden of the state penitentiary or
their
duly authorized deputy
.


The sheriff of the county in which the crime was committed
.


A
clergy
member who has been preparing the condemned person for death
.


The prison physician
.


Attendants chosen by the warden to properly carry out the execution
.


Up to
seven members of the
press
selected in accordance with rules promulgated by the department of correction
.


Immediate family members of the victim who are 18 or older
or, w
he
n
there are no
such
surviving family members,
up to
three previously identified relatives or personal friends of the victim
.


One defense counsel chosen by the condemned person
.


The attorney general or the
ir
designee.

This bill enacts the
"Bearing Witness to the Death Penalty Ac
t,
"
which also aut
horizes members of the general assembly to be present at such executions.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1214
By Oliver

HOUSE BILL 198
By Behn

HB0198
001813
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 40,
Chapter 23, relative to the death penalty.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. This act is known and may be cited as the "Bearing Witness to the Death
Penalty Act."
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 40-23-116(a), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
( ) Members of the general assembly;
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.