Criminal Offenses

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide information on the cost to enforce new penalties.

Increasing Penalties for Assaulting First Responders

This bill changes Tennessee law to make assaulting a first responder a Class E felony with higher fines and longer jail time.

What This Bill Does

• Changes assault against a first responder from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony.
• Increases the mandatory fine for assaulting a first responder from $5,000 to $10,000.
• Raises the minimum jail sentence for assaulting a first responder from 30 days to 60 days.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who assault first responders, such as firefighters and emergency medical personnel.
• Courts and prisons in Tennessee.

Terms To Know

Class E felony

A serious crime that is punished more severely than a misdemeanor.

Mandatory minimum sentence

The shortest amount of time someone must spend in jail as punishment for a crime, set by law.

Limits and Unknowns

• It does not specify how much it will cost to enforce the new penalties.
• The bill has not yet been passed or signed into law and is still under consideration.

Official Summary Text

Present law provides that

a
person commits assault against a law enforcement officer, first responder, or nurse, who is discharging or attempting to discharge
their
official duties, who
either (i) k
nowingly causes bodily injury to
such persons
or
(ii) k
nowingly causes physical contact with
such persons
and a reasonable person would regard the contact as extremely offensive or provocative, including, but not limited to, spitting, throwing, or otherwise transferring bodily fluids, bodily pathogens, or human
waste onto
such
person
s.

Present law provides that a
ssault against a law enforcement officer is a Class E felony, and
is
punished by a mandatory fine of $10,000 and a mandatory minimum sentence of 60 days incarceration.
A
ssault against a first responder or nurse is a Class A misdemeanor, and
is
punished by a mandatory fine of $5,000 and a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 days incarceration.
In either case, t
he defendant is not eligible for release from confinement until the defendant has served the mandatory minimum sentence.

This bill raises the offense classification of assault against a first responder from a Class A misdemeanor, and its related fines and sentence as described above, to a Class E felony, and its related fines and sentence as described above.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1941
By Hensley

HOUSE BILL 1656
By Capley
HB1656
010332
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39
and Title 40, relative to assault against certain
persons.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-13-116(c)(1), is amended by
deleting the subdivision and substituting:
(1)
(A) Assault against a law enforcement officer or first responder under
subsection (a) is a Class E felony, and shall be punished by a mandatory fine of
ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and a mandatory minimum sentence of sixty (60)
days incarceration. The defendant is not eligible for release from confinement
until the defendant has served the entire sixty-day mandatory minimum
sentence.
(B) Assault against a nurse under subsection (a) is a Class A
misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a mandatory fine of five thousand dollars
($5,000) and a mandatory minimum sentence of thirty (30) days incarceration.
The defendant is not eligible for release from confinement until the defendant has
served the entire thirty-day mandatory minimum sentence.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.