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HB1720 • 2026

Zoning

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 5; Title 6; Title 7 and Title 13, relative to zoning outside of municipal boundaries.

Land
Active

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

Sponsor
Hicks T, Lowe
Last action
2026-04-20
Official status
H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/21/2026
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The fiscal impact on local governments cannot be determined due to numerous unknown factors.

Zoning Rules Outside City Limits

This bill allows counties to pass resolutions that prevent cities or regional planning groups from making zoning rules for land outside city limits in certain counties.

What This Bill Does

  • It permits a county legislative body to adopt a resolution prohibiting municipalities and regional planning commissions from creating zoning laws, plans, ordinances, or rules that apply outside the boundaries of a municipality.
  • Upon adoption of such a resolution by the county legislative body, any existing zoning plans, ordinances, rules, or regional zoning ordinances exercising jurisdiction over land use outside city limits become void and unenforceable.
  • The bill allows counties and municipalities to enter into interlocal agreements for completing or winding down development projects that were in progress before the new rule was adopted.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Counties with a population of less than 341,500
  • Municipalities and regional planning commissions within those counties

Terms To Know

Zoning
Rules that decide how land can be used, like for homes, businesses, or parks.
Interlocal agreement
An agreement between two local governments to work together on a project.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not apply to counties with a metropolitan form of government.
  • It does not apply to six specific counties: Moore County, Trousdale County, Hamilton County, Knox County, Davidson County, and Shelby County.
  • Due to numerous unknown factors, the fiscal impact on local governments cannot be determined.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Amendment 1-0 to SB1771

Plain English: Senate State and Local Government 1 Amendment No.

  • Senate State and Local Government 1 Amendment No.
  • 1 to SB1771 Briggs Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
  • 1771 House Bill No.
  • 1720* SA0953 015729 - 1 - by deleting SECTION 1 and substituting: SECTION 1.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/21/2026

  2. 2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  3. 2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/20/2026

  4. 2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee

  5. 2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for 4/20/2026

  6. 2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  7. 2026-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  8. 2026-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/20/2026

  9. 2026-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/20/2026

  10. 2026-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/20/2026

  11. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee to Next Calendar

  12. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/15/2026

  13. 2026-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  14. 2026-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate Reset on calendar for 4/20/2026

  15. 2026-04-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/14/2026

  16. 2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/14/2026

  17. 2026-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 0 PNV 0

  18. 2026-03-30 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/31/2026

  19. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/31/2026

  20. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/31/2026

  21. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/25/2026

  22. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/25/2026

  23. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/25/2026

  24. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed behind the budget

  25. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/24/2026

  26. 2026-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/24/2026

  27. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 3/18/2026

  28. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee to 3/18/2026

  29. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/17/2026

  30. 2026-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/17/2026

  31. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 3/11/2026

  32. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee to 3/11/2026

  33. 2026-03-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/10/2026

  34. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 3/4/2026

  35. 2026-02-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor change.

  36. 2026-02-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor change.

  37. 2026-02-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee

  38. 2026-02-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass; ref to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  39. 2026-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  40. 2026-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. State & Local Government Committee for 2/18/2026

  41. 2026-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to State & Local Government Committee

  42. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Cities & Counties Subcommittee for 2/11/2026

  43. 2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Cities & Counties Subcommittee

  44. 2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to State & Local Government Committee

  45. 2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee

  46. 2026-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  47. 2026-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  48. 2026-01-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  49. 2026-01-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Effective upon the adoption of a resolution
by a majority vote of the county legislative body
, this bill prohibits
a municipality or regional planning commission
from
adopt
ing
a zoning plan, ordinance, rule, or regional zoning ordinance
that
exercis
es
jurisdiction over zoning, including development, infrastructure, or land use, outside of the boundaries of a municipality.

Upon adoption of
the
resolution, an existing zoning plan, ordinance, rule, or regional zoning ordinance
that
exerci
ses
jurisdiction ove
r zoning

outside of the boundaries of a municipality is void and unenforceable.

INTERLOCAL OR OTHER AGREEMENT

This bill authorizes t
he county and municipality
to
enter into an interlocal or other agreement for the completion of, or for the process of winding down, development, infrastructure, or land use obligations in progress prior to the adoption of such resolution. A developer may be a party to such an agree
ment with the consent of the county and municipal governing bodies.

APPLICABILITY

However, this bill clarifies that its provisions do not apply to Moore County, Trousdale County, Hamilton County, Knox County, Davidson County, and Shelby County, and do
not prohibit a county or municipality from entering into an interlocal agreement for any lawful purpose under state law.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL 1771
By Lowe

HOUSE BILL 1720
By Hicks T
HB1720
011204
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 5;
Title 6; Title 7 and Title 13, relative to zoning
outside of municipal boundaries.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 13, Chapter 7, Part 3, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) Notwithstanding this part, a municipality or regional planning commission
shall not adopt a zoning plan, ordinance, rule, or regional zoning ordinance, as
applicable, exercising jurisdiction over zoning, including development, infrastructure, or
land use, outside of the boundaries of a municipality.
(b) This section is effective in a county upon the adoption of a resolution by a
majority vote of the county legislative body. Upon adoption of such resolution, an
existing zoning plan, ordinance, rule, or regional zoning ordinance adopted under this
part exercising jurisdiction over zoning, including development, infrastructure, or land
use, outside of the boundaries of a municipality is void and unenforceable. The county
and municipality may enter into an interlocal or other agreement for the completion of, or
for the process of winding down, development, infrastructure, or land use obligations in
progress prior to the adoption of such resolution. A developer may be a party to such an
agreement with the consent of the county and municipal governing bodies.
(c) This section:
(1) Applies to counties with a population of less than three hundred forty-
one thousand five hundred (341,500), according to the 2020 or a subsequent
federal census; and

- 2 - 011204

(2) Does not apply to a county with a metropolitan form of government.
(d) This section does not prohibit a county or municipality from entering into an
interlocal agreement for any lawful purpose under state law.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.