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HB0447 • 2026

Prisons and Reformatory Institutions

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 3; Title 4; Title 40 and Title 41, relative to corrections oversight.

Crime Labor
Active

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

Sponsor
Hulsey, Pody
Last action
2026-04-08
Official status
Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/14/2026
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Prison Report Requirements

This bill requires Tennessee's Department of Correction to create and submit reports about inmates who earned sentence reduction credits.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires the department of correction to work with the inmate disciplinary oversight board.
  • Creates a report that lists how many inmates got sentence reduction credits.
  • Sends this report to legislative committees.

Who It Names or Affects

  • The Department of Correction in Tennessee
  • Inmates who earn sentence reduction credits

Terms To Know

Sentence Reduction Credits
Points or rewards that inmates can earn to reduce their time in prison.
Legislative Committees
Groups within the state government that look at specific topics and make recommendations.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how often these reports must be made.
  • It is unclear what consequences, if any, there are for failing to submit the report on time.

Amendments

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

Amendment 1-0 to HB0447

Plain English: The amendment creates an office within the corrections board that will oversee investigations and conduct in Tennessee's correctional facilities.

  • Establishes the Office of Investigations and Conduct under the Corrections Board to handle oversight and investigations.
  • Appoints a director, special agents, institutional investigators, and other staff members for each grand division and correctional facility.
  • Gives these appointed individuals full law enforcement powers within correctional facilities, including access to all records and authority to conduct investigations.
  • The amendment does not specify how the office will be funded or what its budget will be.
Amendment 1-0 to SB0261

Plain English: The amendment creates an office within the corrections board to handle investigations and conduct oversight in Tennessee's correctional facilities.

  • Establishes the Office of Investigations and Conduct under the Corrections Board with full investigative powers, including access to all records and authority over employees during investigations.
  • Requires that investigators and staff are fully commissioned law enforcement officers with arrest authority and training requirements.
  • Assigns specific roles such as special agents in charge, institutional investigators, correctional sergeants, corporals, and disciplinary board sergeants within the new office.
  • The amendment text does not specify how existing employees will be transferred to the new office or what happens if there is a shortage of qualified law enforcement officers.
  • Details on funding for the new office are not provided in this amendment.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/14/2026

  2. 2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed behind the budget

  3. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/8/2026

  4. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee

  5. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  6. 2026-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  7. 2026-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  8. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. State & Local Government Committee for 3/31/2026

  9. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in State & Local Government Committee to 3/31/2026

  10. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0

  11. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/25/2026

  12. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/25/2026

  13. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/25/2026

  14. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. State & Local Government Committee for 3/24/2026

  15. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/24/2026

  16. 2026-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  17. 2026-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/24/2026

  18. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Departments & Agencies Subcommittee for 3/17/2026

  19. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/17/2026

  20. 2026-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Taken off notice for cal in s/c Departments & Agencies Subcommittee of State & Local Government Committee

  21. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Departments & Agencies Subcommittee for 2/3/2026

  22. 2026-01-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Meeting Canceled

  23. 2026-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Departments & Agencies Subcommittee for 1/27/2026

  24. 2025-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Departments & Agencies Subcommittee to First Calendar of 2026

  25. 2025-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to first calendar of 2026

  26. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Departments & Agencies Subcommittee for 3/18/2025

  27. 2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Taken off notice for cal in s/c Departments & Agencies Subcommittee of State & Local Government Committee

  28. 2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/18/2025

  29. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Departments & Agencies Subcommittee for 3/11/2025

  30. 2025-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Departments & Agencies Subcommittee

  31. 2025-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Ref. to State & Local Government Committee

  32. 2025-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/18/2025

  33. 2025-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/4/2025

  34. 2025-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  35. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee

  36. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, caption bill, held on desk - pending amdt.

  37. 2025-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  38. 2025-01-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  39. 2025-01-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  40. 2025-01-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Abstract summarizes the bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL 261
By Pody

HOUSE BILL 447
By Hulsey

HB0447
001812
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 3;
Title 4; Title 40 and Title 41, relative to corrections
oversight.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 41-21-236, is amended by adding
the following as a new subsection:
( ) The department, in consultation with the inmate disciplinary oversight board,
shall compose a report detailing the number of inmates who earned sentence reduction
credits under this section and shall submit the report to the senate judiciary committee
and the committee of the house of representatives with jurisdiction over subject matters
pertaining to criminal sentencing.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.