Courts

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide specific details about the cost implications, leaving this as an unknown factor.

Drug Court Pilot Project Expansion in Tennessee

This bill creates a pilot project to expand eligibility for drug court treatment programs in specific judicial districts of Tennessee until June 30, 2028.

What This Bill Does

• Creates a pilot project to expand the eligibility criteria for participants in drug court treatment programs referred to the Northeast Tennessee Regional Recovery Center in the first, second, and third judicial districts.
• Gives judges discretion over determining eligibility based on new criteria.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who might be eligible for drug court treatment programs in specific judicial districts of Tennessee.
• Judges in the first, second, and third judicial districts of Tennessee.

Terms To Know

violent offender

A person with a felony conviction within ten years involving weapons or serious harm to others.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill only applies to specific judicial districts in Tennessee.
• The exact cost of expanding drug court eligibility is hard to estimate and depends on many factors.

Official Summary Text

ON MARCH 30, 2026, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 1909 FOR HOUSE BILL 1471, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND RESET SENATE BILL 1909, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, create a pilot project expanding the eligibility of participants in the drug court treatment program in the first, second, and third judicial districts who are referred to the Northeast Tennessee Regional Recov
ery Center. Such judicial districts include Carter, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington counties. The pilot project expires on June 30, 2028.

ELIGIBILITY

For purposes of the pilot project, this amendment provides that the presiding judge of the drug court treatment program for the first, second, and third judicial districts has discretion in determining the eligibility of participants in the drug court tr
eatment program who are referred to the Northeast Tennessee Regional Recovery Center. When determining eligibility of participants in the pilot project, a "violent offender" means a person who meets all of the following criteria:

(1) Has been convicted of a felony offense within the previous 10 years, during which (i) the person carried, possessed, or used a firearm or dangerous weapon; (ii) there occurred the death of or serious bodily injury to any person; or (iii) the person
committed a felony involving the use of force against the person of another.

(2) Has one or more prior convictions for a felony crime of violence involving the use or attempted use of force against a person with the intent to cause death or serious bodily harm.

In determining whether a defendant is a violent offender, this amendment prohibits the court from considering whether one or more of the circumstances described in (1) above is or is not an element of the offense for which the person is convicted.

ON APRIL 6, 2026, THE HOUSE FURTHER CONSIDERED SENATE BILL 1909, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2, AND HELD SENATE BILL 1909 ON THE DESK.

AMENDMENT #2 removes the changes made by House Amendment #1 and restores the language of the bill as introduced.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1909
By Stevens

HOUSE BILL 1471
By Hicks T
HB1471
010276
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 16,
Chapter 22, relative to drug courts.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 16-22-103(4)(A)(i), is amended by
deleting "an offense, during" and substituting "a felony offense within the previous ten (10)
years, during".
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 16-22-103, is amended by deleting
subdivision (4)(A)(iii).
SECTION 3. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.