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HB0629 • 2026

Children

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 37; Title 39; Title 40, Chapter 11 and Title 49, relative to juveniles.

Children Education Technology
Active

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

Sponsor
Hardaway, Akbari
Last action
2025-04-09
Official status
No Action Taken
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide information on enforcement mechanisms for the bill requirements, leaving some uncertainties in place.

Juvenile Monitoring and Counseling Act

This bill allows courts to order children accused of delinquency or unruliness to wear GPS monitoring devices and requires expelled students who threaten mass violence to undergo counseling and mental health evaluations before returning to school.

What This Bill Does

  • Allows a court to order a child, if released before a hearing for being delinquent or unruly, to wear a global positioning monitoring system device.
  • Requires the entity operating the GPS system to notify the probation officer or other designated person if the child violates any instructions given by the court.
  • Requires expelled students who threaten mass violence on school property or at related activities to undergo counseling and mental health evaluations before returning to school.
  • Specifies that the costs of these services must be paid by the student's parents or, if the student is 18 or older, by the student themselves.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Children accused of delinquency or unruliness who are released before a hearing.
  • Students expelled for threatening mass violence on school property or at related activities.

Terms To Know

global positioning monitoring system device
A device that uses satellite technology to track the location of an individual in real-time.
zero tolerance policy
A strict rule or policy that does not allow any exceptions for certain behaviors, such as threatening violence on school property.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if the costs of counseling and mental health evaluations are not paid by the student's parents or the student.
  • It is unclear how schools will enforce compliance with the requirement for expelled students to undergo counseling and mental health evaluations.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee

  2. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/25/2026

  3. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 3/25/2026

  4. 2026-03-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/24/2026

  5. 2026-03-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 3/24/2026

  6. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/23/2026

  7. 2025-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    No Action Taken

  8. 2025-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee

  9. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 4/9/2025

  10. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/8/2025

  11. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 4/8/2025

  12. 2025-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Judiciary Committee

  13. 2025-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/2/2025

  14. 2025-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 4/2/2025

  15. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/1/2025

  16. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 4/1/2025

  17. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 4/2/2025

  18. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 4/2/2025

  19. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/31/2025

  20. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/26/2025

  21. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 3/26/2025

  22. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/19/2025

  23. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 3/19/2025

  24. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/12/2025

  25. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 3/12/2025

  26. 2025-02-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/5/2025

  27. 2025-02-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 3/5/25

  28. 2025-02-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 2/26/2025

  29. 2025-02-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Meeting Canceled

  30. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 2/19/2025

  31. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  32. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  33. 2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  34. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee

  35. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee - Education Committee

  36. 2025-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  37. 2025-01-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

GLOBAL POSITIONIN
G MONITORING SYSTEM
DEVICE

When a child alleged to be delinquent or unruly is brought before
a
court,
present law authorizes
the court
to
notify a probation officer attached to the court or any such person, persons
,
or agencies available to the court, or
to the department of children's services
. Such notified party must accomplish certain duties set out by law. I
f the court appoints
such a
person
or entity
, the
n this bill authorizes
the court
to
order the child to wear a global positioning monitoring sy
stem device and order the entity that operates the global positioning monitoring system to notify the appointed person or entity if the child violates the instructions issued by the court upon release.

MANDATORY COUNSELING

Present law provides that it
is the legislative intent that if a rule or policy is designated as a zero

tolerance policy
in schools
, then violations of that rule or policy must not be tolerated and violators
must
receive certain, swift, and proportionate punishment.
I
f a student is
expelled for committing a zero tolerance offense for threatening mass violence on school property or at a school-related activity, then
this bill requires all of the following to occur:



The director of schools or the head of the public charter school must require the student to undergo counseling and a mental health evaluation to determine whether the student is a threat to themselves or to others before the student may return to school, regardless of whether the student has completed the term of the student's expulsion.



The mental health evaluation must be conducted on an outpatient basis by a mental health agency or a licensed private practitioner designated by the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services. The evaluator
must
report its findings to the director of schools or the head of the public charter school. A report is confidential and must not be shared with others, except as may otherwise be required by law.



The costs of the counseling and mental health evaluation

must be borne by the student's parents or the student, if the student is
18 or older.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
SENATE BILL 1186
By Akbari

HOUSE BILL 629
By Hardaway

HB0629
002523
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 37;
Title 39; Title 40, Chapter 11 and Title 49, relative
to juveniles.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 37-1-128(a), is amended by adding
the following new subdivision:
(3) If the court appoints a person or entity to take charge of a child pursuant to
subdivision (a)(1), then the court may order the child to wear a global positioning
monitoring system device and order the entity that operates the global positioning
monitoring system to notify the appointed person or entity if the child violates the
instructions issued by the court upon release. As used in this subdivision (a)(3), "global
positioning monitoring system" means the same as defined in § 40-11-152.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-3401(g), is amended by
redesignating subdivision (g)(5) as subdivision (g)(5)(A), by deleting the language "subdivision
(g)(5)" wherever it appears and substituting instead the language "subdivision (g)(5)(A)", and by
adding the following as a new subdivision (g)(5)(B):
(B)
(i) If a student is expelled for committing a zero tolerance offense for
threatening mass violence on school property or at a school-related activity in
accordance with this section, then the director of schools or the head of the
public charter school shall require the student to undergo counseling and a
mental health evaluation to determine whether the student is a threat to

- 2 - 002523

themselves or to others before the student may return to school, regardless of
whether the student has completed the term of the student's expulsion.
(ii) The mental health evaluation required in subdivision (g)(5)(B)(i) must
be conducted on an outpatient basis by a mental health agency or a licensed
private practitioner designated by the commissioner of mental health and
substance abuse services. The evaluator shall report its findings to the director
of schools or the head of the public charter school. A report submitted to a
director of schools or head of a public charter school pursuant to this subdivision
(g)(5)(B)(ii) is confidential and must not be shared with others, except as may
otherwise be required by law.
(iii) The costs of the counseling and mental health evaluation required
pursuant to subdivision (g)(5)(B)(i) must be borne by the student's parents or the
student, if the student is eighteen (18) years of age or older.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-4002(e)(5), is amended by
deleting "§ 49-6-3401(g)(5)" and substituting "§ 49-6-3401(g)(5)(A)".
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-4301(a)(3), is amended by
deleting "§ 49-6-3401(g)(5)" and substituting "§ 49-6-3401(g)(5)(A)".
SECTION 5. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it, and
applies to actions occurring on or after that date.