Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

Plain English Breakdown

The specific removal timelines for offenders from the registry have been altered by an amendment, extending them to five years, seven years, and ten years respectively.

Savanna's Law: Registry for Persistent Domestic Violence Offenders

This law creates a registry within the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) to track persistent domestic violence offenders and makes their information available to the public.

What This Bill Does

• Creates a registry in the TBI for people who have been convicted of domestic abuse with at least one prior conviction.
• Requires court clerks to provide the TBI with details about these offenders, including photos and identifying documents.
• Makes this information available online so that anyone can look up persistent domestic violence offenders.
• Imposes a $150 registration fee on those who must register as persistent domestic violence offenders.
• Removes names from the registry after set periods based on the number of prior convictions.

Who It Names or Affects

• People convicted of domestic abuse with at least one prior conviction will be required to register in this new system.
• The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is responsible for maintaining and updating the registry.
• Court clerks must provide information about offenders to the TBI.

Terms To Know

Persistent domestic violence offender

A person who has been convicted of a domestic abuse offense with at least one prior conviction for such an offense.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI)

The state agency responsible for maintaining the registry and making it available to the public online.

Limits and Unknowns

• This law only applies to offenses committed on or after January 1, 2026.
• It does not apply to people who have been convicted of domestic abuse but do not meet the criteria for being a persistent offender.
• The effectiveness and impact of this registry in preventing future domestic violence incidents is uncertain.

Official Summary Text

This bill enacts "Savanna's Law," which creates
within the Tennessee bureau of investigation (TBI) a registry of persistent domestic violence offenders. The TBI must maintain this registry based upon information supplied to the TBI by the court clerks pursuant to this bill and information available to

the TBI from the department of correction and local law enforcement agencies. The TBI must make the registry available for public inquiry on the internet.

INFORMATION IN THE REGISTRY

This bill requires the registry to consist of the persistent domestic
violence offender's name, date of birth, conviction date, county or counties of convictions, and a current photograph of the persistent domestic violence offender. If available after reasonable inquiry, the court clerk must provide the TBI with a copy o
f
the persistent domestic violence offender's driver license, or other state or federal identification, and such other identifying data as the TBI determines is necessary to properly identify the persistent domestic violence offender and exclude innocent p
e
rsons. However, the registry available for public inquiry must not include the persistent domestic violence offender's address, social security number, driver license number, or any other state or federal identification number.

REQUIRED REGISTRATION

If
a person is convicted of an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim and the person convicted has at least one prior conviction for an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim, then this bill requires the court to, upon proof of any pri
o
r convictions committed against a domestic abuse victim, order the defendant to register as a persistent domestic violence offender.

TRANSFER OF INFORMATION

If a court orders a defendant to register under this bill, then this bill requires the court cle
rk to forward to the TBI a certified copy of the qualifying conviction and the date of birth of the defendant. The court clerk must forward the information to the TBI within seven days of the date of the conviction.

REGISTRATION FEE

In addition to any
other punishment that may be imposed for a conviction of the offense, this bill requires a defendant required to register to be assessed a registration fee in the amount of $150, which must be paid to the clerk of the court imposing the sentence, who must

(i) retain $50 of the fee for the administration of this bill, which must be reserved for the purposes authorized by this bill at the end of each fiscal year; and (ii) remit $100 of the fee to the TBI for the administration of this bill, which must be res
e
rved for the purposes authorized by this bill at the end of each fiscal year.

REMOVAL FROM REGISTRY

This bill requires the TBI to remove from the registry the name and other identifying information of a persistent domestic violence offender required to
register:



Two years after the date of the most recent conviction for an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim if the defendant has one prior conviction for an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim.



Five years after the date of the most recent conviction for an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim if the defendant has two prior convictions for an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim.



Ten years after the date of the most recent conviction for an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim if the defendant has three or more prior convictions for an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim.

APPLICABILITY

This bill only applies to persons convicted of an offense committed against a domestic ab
use victim that occurred on or after January 1, 2026. However, a prior conviction is not required to occur on or after January 1, 2026.

ON APRIL 16, 2025, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1200, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #2 replaces thi
s bill's requirement that a registrant r
emit $100 of the
$150 registration
fee to the TBI for the administration of this
bill. This amendment instead requires that the registrant
remit $100 of the fee to the department of finance and administration's offi
ce of criminal justice programs for the purpose of administering grants to fund family violence prevention and intervention services. The funding shall not revert to the general fund at the end of the fiscal year and must be carried forward for administr
a
tion of such grants.

This amendment replaces this bill's schedule for removing the identifying information of a persistent domestic violence offender from the registry, as follows:

(1) Five years
(instead of two years)
after the date of the most recen
t conviction for an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim if the defendant has one prior conviction for an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim;

(2) Seven years
(instead of five years)
after the date of the most recent convictio
n for an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim if the defendant has two prior convictions for an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim;

(3) Ten years after the date of the most recent conviction for an offense committed against a
domestic abuse victim if the defendant has three
(instead of three or more)
prior convictions for an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim; and

(4) Twenty years after the date of the most recent conviction for an offense committed against a
domestic abuse victim if the defendant has four or more prior convictions for an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim.

This amendment clarifies that, while a person must be convicted of a qualifying offense that occurs on or after January 1,
2026, in order to be subject to this bill's registration requirement, the person's prior convictions may have occurred prior to January 1, 2026.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 324
By Massey

HOUSE BILL 1200
By Kumar

HB1200
001990
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 18;
Section 38-6-103; Title 39 and Title 40, relative to
domestic violence.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. This act is known and may be cited as "Savanna's Law."
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 40, Chapter 39, is amended by adding
the following as a new part:
40-39-401.
As used in this part:
(1) "Convicted" and "conviction" mean a verdict of guilty by a judge or
jury or a plea of guilty and include a plea of nolo contendere and a best interest
plea accepted by the court;
(2) "Domestic abuse victim" has the same meaning as defined in § 36-3-
601;
(3) "Persistent domestic violence offender" means a person who:
(A) Has been convicted in this state of an offense committed
against a domestic abuse victim; and
(B) Has at least one (1) prior conviction for an offense committed
against a domestic abuse victim;
(4) "Prior conviction" has the same meaning as defined in § 40-35-106;
and
(5) "TBI" means the Tennessee bureau of investigation.

- 2 - 001990

40-39-402.
(a) There is created within the TBI a registry of persistent domestic violence
offenders.
(b) The TBI shall maintain this registry based upon information supplied to the
TBI by the court clerks pursuant to subsections (c) and (d) and information available to
the TBI from the department of correction and local law enforcement agencies. The TBI
shall make the registry available for public inquiry on the internet.
(c) The registry must consist of the persistent domestic violence offender's
name, date of birth, conviction date, county or counties of convictions, and a current
photograph of the persistent domestic violence offender. If available after reasonable
inquiry, the court clerk shall provide the TBI with a copy of the persistent domestic
violence offender's driver license, or other state or federal identification, and such other
identifying data as the TBI determines is necessary to properly identify the persistent
domestic violence offender and exclude innocent persons. However, the registry
available for public inquiry must not include the persistent domestic violence offender's
address, social security number, driver license number, or any other state or federal
identification number.
(d)
(1) If a person is convicted of an offense committed against a domestic
abuse victim and the person convicted has at least one (1) prior conviction for an
offense committed against a domestic abuse victim, then the court shall, upon
proof of any prior convictions committed against a domestic abuse victim, order
the defendant to register as a persistent domestic violence offender under this
part.

- 3 - 001990

(2) If a court orders a defendant to register under this part, then the court
clerk shall forward to the TBI a certified copy of the qualifying conviction and the
date of birth of the defendant. The court clerk shall forward the information to the
TBI within seven (7) days of the date of the conviction.
(e) Notwithstanding § 40-35-111 and in addition to any other punishment that
may be imposed for a conviction of the offense, a defendant required to register under
this part must be assessed a registration fee in the amount of one hundred fifty dollars
($150), which must be paid to the clerk of the court imposing the sentence, who shall:
(1) Retain fifty dollars ($50.00) of the fee for the administration of this
part, which must be reserved for the purposes authorized by this part at the end
of each fiscal year; and
(2) Remit one hundred dollars ($100) of the fee to the TBI for the
administration of this part, which must be reserved for the purposes authorized
by this part at the end of each fiscal year.
(f) The TBI shall remove from the registry the name and other identifying
information of a persistent domestic violence offender required to register under this
part:
(1) Two (2) years after the date of the most recent conviction for an
offense committed against a domestic abuse victim if the defendant has one (1)
prior conviction for an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim;
(2) Five (5) years after the date of the most recent conviction for an
offense committed against a domestic abuse victim if the defendant has two (2)
prior convictions for an offense committed against a domestic abuse victim; and
(3) Ten (10) years after the date of the most recent conviction for an
offense committed against a domestic abuse victim if the defendant has three (3)

- 4 - 001990

or more prior convictions for an offense committed against a domestic abuse
victim.
(g) This section applies only to persons convicted of an offense committed
against a domestic abuse victim that occurred on or after January 1, 2026; provided,
however, that a prior conviction is not required to occur on or after January 1, 2026.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect January 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it, and
applies to offenses committed on or after that date.