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HB0219 • 2026

Real Property

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 66, Chapter 2, Part 3, relative to property.

Agriculture
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Reedy, Roberts
Last action
2025-06-04
Official status
Effective date(s) 07/01/2025
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill text specifies that the law expires upon repeal of the federal Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act, which is an important condition for its applicability.

Foreign Land Reports for Tennessee

This act requires foreign buyers who must report land purchases to the U.S. Department of Agriculture under federal law to also send a copy of that report to Tennessee's agriculture commissioner and sets penalties for not doing so.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires foreign persons buying agricultural land in Tennessee to file a copy of their federal report with Tennessee’s agriculture commissioner.
  • Allows the state attorney general to impose fines up to 25% of the land's value if a foreign buyer fails to send the required report.
  • Enables the attorney general to sue for these fines in local courts where the agricultural land is located.
  • Gives the agriculture commissioner power to make rules about how this law works.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Foreign persons buying agricultural land in Tennessee
  • Tennessee’s agriculture commissioner and staff
  • The state attorney general

Terms To Know

foreign person
An individual or entity that is not a citizen of the United States, including those from foreign countries.
agricultural land
Land used for farming and growing crops or raising livestock.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The law only applies if the federal Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act is still in place.
  • It does not specify what happens to existing foreign land purchases before July 1, 2025.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Amendment 1-0 to HB0219

Plain English: The amendment changes how much a civil penalty can be for not filing a report on agricultural land.

  • Changes the maximum civil penalty from an unspecified amount to twenty-five percent (25%) of the fair market value of the agricultural land.
  • The original text does not specify what the previous limit was, so it is unclear how much this change affects penalties in practice.
Amendment 1-0 to SB0519

Plain English: The amendment changes how much a civil penalty can be for not filing a report on agricultural land.

  • Removes the current limit on civil penalties for failing to file reports about agricultural land.
  • Sets a new maximum civil penalty at twenty-five percent (25%) of the fair market value of the agricultural land in question.
  • The original text before deletion is not provided, so it's unclear what specific changes are being made beyond setting a new penalty limit.
  • It is not clear from this amendment alone how the previous penalty structure worked or if there were any other conditions attached to it.

Bill History

  1. 2025-06-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Effective date(s) 07/01/2025

  2. 2025-06-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 337

  3. 2025-06-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became Pub. Ch. 337

  4. 2025-05-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Governor.

  5. 2025-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for his action.

  6. 2025-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  7. 2025-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  8. 2025-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.

  9. 2025-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate, Ayes 30, Nays 0

  10. 2025-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0254)

  11. 2025-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.

  12. 2025-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  13. 2025-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Companion House Bill substituted

  14. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  15. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/15/2025

  16. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate Reset on calendar for 4/15/2025

  17. 2025-04-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/14/2025

  18. 2025-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate Reset on calendar for 4/14/2025

  19. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  20. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/9/2025

  21. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate Reset on calendar for 4/9/2025

  22. 2025-04-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/7/2025

  23. 2025-04-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  24. 2025-04-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate Reset on calendar for 4/7/2025

  25. 2025-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/3/2025

  26. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  27. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  28. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate Reset on calendar for 4/3/2025

  29. 2025-03-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/31/2025

  30. 2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  31. 2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 91, Nays 5, PNV 0

  32. 2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0085)

  33. 2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  34. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0, PNV 0

  35. 2025-03-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/27/2025

  36. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/20/2025

  37. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Energy, Ag., and Nat. Resources Committee calendar for 3/26/2025

  38. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Energy, Ag., and Nat. Resources Committee to 3/26/2025

  39. 2025-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee

  40. 2025-03-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Energy, Ag., and Nat. Resources Committee calendar for 3/19/2025

  41. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Government Operations Committee for 3/17/2025

  42. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Government Operations Committee

  43. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. State & Local Government Committee for 3/12/2025

  44. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in State & Local Government Committee to 3/12/2025

  45. 2025-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  46. 2025-02-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. State & Local Government Committee for 3/5/2025

  47. 2025-02-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to State & Local Government Committee

  48. 2025-02-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  49. 2025-02-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Cities & Counties Subcommittee for 2/26/2025

  50. 2025-02-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Cities & Counties Subcommittee to 2/26/2025

  51. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Cities & Counties Subcommittee for 2/19/2025

  52. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Energy, Ag., and Nat. Resources Committee

  53. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  54. 2025-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Cities & Counties Subcommittee

  55. 2025-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to State & Local Government Committee - Government Operations for Review

  56. 2025-01-30 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  57. 2025-01-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  58. 2025-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Generally, the federal Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act requires foreign persons who obtain agricultural land in the U.S. to report such acquisition to the secretary of agriculture.

T
his bill requires foreign persons who are subject to the reporting requirements of the federal Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act to also file a copy of the report with the commissioner of agriculture. This bill requires the commissioner to n
o
tify the attorney general of a foreign person's failure to file a copy of the report, whereupon the attorney general:

(1) Is required to impose a civil penalty not to exceed 25% of the fair market value, on the date of the assessment of the penalty, of
the interest in the agricultural land for such failure to file the report with the commissioner; and

(2) Is authorized to bring suit to collect the civil penalty in the circuit court of any county in which any portion of the agricultural land acquired
is located.

The provisions of this bill expire upon the repeal of the federal Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act. This bill authorizes the commissioner of agriculture to promulgate rules to effectuate its purposes.

ON MARCH 27, 2025, THE
HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 219, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 authorizes, instead of requires, the attorney general to
seek and collect a civil penalty not to exceed 25%

of the fair market value, on the date of the assessment of the pen
alty, of the interest in the agricultural land for such failure to file the report with the commissioner as required under
the bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL 519
By Roberts

HOUSE BILL 219
By Reedy

HB0219
000020
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 66,
Chapter 2, Part 3, relative to property.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 66, Chapter 2, Part 3, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of agriculture or the
commissioner's designee;
(2) "Foreign person", as defined under the federal Agricultural Foreign
Investment Disclosure Act (7 U.S.C. § 3501 et seq.), means:
(A) An individual:
(i) Who is not a citizen or national of the United States;
(ii) Who is not a citizen of the Northern Mariana Islands or
the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; or
(iii) Who is not lawfully admitted to the United States for
permanent residence, or paroled into the United States, under the
federal Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.);
(B) A person, other than an individual or a government, which is
created or organized under the laws of a foreign government or that has
its principal place of business located outside of all the United States;
(C) A person, other than an individual or a government:

- 2 - 000020

(i) Which is created or organized under the laws of any
state; and
(ii) In which, as determined by the United States secretary
of agriculture, under regulations the secretary shall prescribe, a
significant interest or substantial control is directly or indirectly
held:
(a) By an individual referred to in subdivision
(a)(2)(A);
(b) By a person referred to in subdivision (a)(2)(B);
(c) By a foreign government; or
(d) By any combination of such individuals,
persons, or governments; or
(D) A foreign government; and
(3) "Person" includes an individual, corporation, company, association,
firm, partnership, society, joint stock company, trust, estate, or other legal entity.
(b) A foreign person required to make a report to the United States department
of agriculture under the federal Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act, shall also
file a copy of the required report with the commissioner within the time period required
under the federal Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act .
(c) The commissioner shall notify the attorney general and reporter of a foreign
person's failure to file a copy of the report as required under subsection (b), whereupon
the attorney general and reporter:
(1) Shall impose a civil penalty not to exceed twenty-five (25%) of the fair
market value, on the date of the assessment of the penalty, of the interest in the

- 3 - 000020

agricultural land for such failure to file the report with the commissioner as
required under subsection (b); and
(2) May bring action to collect the civil penalty in the circuit court of any
county in which any portion of the agricultural land acquired is located.
(d)
(1) This section expires upon the repeal of the federal Agricultural
Foreign Investment Disclosure Act.
(2) The commissioner shall notify the executive secretary of the
Tennessee code commission in writing of the repeal of the federal Agricultural
Foreign Investment Disclosure Act.
SECTION 2. The commissioner of agriculture is authorized to promulgate rules to
effectuate this act. The rules must be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform
Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 5.
SECTION 3. For the purpose of promulgating rules, this act takes effect upon becoming
a law, the public welfare requiring it, and applies to reports made to the United States
department of agriculture on or after July 1, 2025.