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HB1287 • 2026

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 38; Title 39 and Title 67, relative to background checks.

Active

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

Sponsor
Hill, Stevens
Last action
2025-03-26
Official status
Action Def. in s/c Civil Justice Subcommittee to 4/2/2025
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not specify how these extra checks will be used or which positions are covered.

Increasing Background Check Requests for State Leaders

This bill changes Tennessee's law to allow Senate and House leaders to request up to twenty background checks per year instead of fifteen.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes the yearly limit on background check requests from 15 to 20.
  • Applies to requests made by the Speaker of the Senate and Speaker of the House.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Speakers of the Tennessee Senate and House of Representatives

Terms To Know

Background check
A process to look into someone's past, like their criminal record or work history.
Speaker
The leader of the Senate or House in Tennessee who can ask for background checks.

Limits and Unknowns

  • Does not specify how these extra checks will be used.
  • It is unclear which positions exactly are covered by this change.

Bill History

  1. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee

  2. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  3. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  4. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  5. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Civil Justice Subcommittee to the Gun Calendar

  6. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  7. 2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Civil Justice Subcommittee

  8. 2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Ref. to Judiciary Committee

  9. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  10. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  11. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  12. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  13. 2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  14. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Abstract summarizes the bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL 892
By Stevens

HOUSE BILL 1287
By Hill

HB1287
002988
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 38;
Title 39 and Title 67, relative to background
checks.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 38-6-106(f), is amended by deleting
the language "fifteen (15) requests per calendar year" and substituting "twenty (20) requests per
calendar year".
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.