Orders of Protection

Plain English Breakdown

The exact cost of enforcement and retroactive application are not specified in the official source material.

Lifetime Orders of Protection in Tennessee

This bill changes Tennessee laws to allow victims of certain violent crimes and their immediate family members to request lifetime orders of protection against offenders convicted of using force in these crimes, and increases penalties for violating such orders.

What This Bill Does

• Allows victims of specific violent crimes, including those committed outside Tennessee, to request a lifetime order of protection if the offender was convicted of using force in the crime.
• Increases the punishment for knowingly breaking a lifetime order of protection from a misdemeanor to a felony.

Who It Names or Affects

• Victims of certain violent crimes and their immediate family members
• People convicted of using force against victims in specific offenses

Terms To Know

Lifetime order of protection

A legal order that lasts indefinitely to protect someone from a person who has hurt them or threatened to hurt them.

Felony offense

A serious crime, often involving violence or theft, punishable by more than one year in prison.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much it will cost the state to enforce these new laws.
• It is unclear if this law will apply retroactively to crimes committed before July 1, 2026.

Official Summary Text

Present law authorizes
a victim
,

which includes
an immediate family member of a minor victim or a homicide victim
,
of any of the following offenses
to
file a petition for a lifetime order of protection against the offender who was convicted
of harassment; aggravated stalking or especially
aggravated stalking; or a
felony offense under any assaultive offense, criminal homicide, kidnapping and false imprisonment, or any sexual offense.

For acts
committed on or
after July 1, 2026, this bill also authorizes a victim to
file a petition for a lifetime order of protection against
the
offender who was convicted
of

a
felony offense committed in another state that would constitute an offense listed
above
if committed in this state. If an offense in a
nother
jurisdiction is not identified as one of the offenses listed
above,
then
the offense
must be considered an offense listed
above
if the elements of the offense are the same as the elements of
the comparable offense in this state.

PENALTY

Present law provides that it is an offense to knowingly violate a
n order of protection issued pursuant to domestic abuse laws or a restraining order issued to a victim as defined in domestic abuse laws.
Generally, such a violation is classified as
a Class A misdemeanor
,
punishable by a fine
of no less than
$100
and no more than
$2,500
.

This bill raises the classification to
a Class E felony if
(i) t
he offender knowingly violated a lifetime order of protection
and (ii) t
he conviction on which the lifetime order of protection is based was for an offense involving the use of force against a victim.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1938
By Jackson

HOUSE BILL 1765
By Littleton
HB1765
011082
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 36
and Title 39, relative to lifetime orders of
protection.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-13-113(g), is amended by
deleting "A violation of subsection (a)" and substituting "Except as provided in subdivision (g)(2),
a violation of subsection (a)".
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-13-113(g), is amended by
designating the current language as subdivision (g)(1) and adding the following subdivision
(g)(2):
(2)
(A) A violation of subsection (a) is a Class E felony if:
(i) The offender knowingly violated a lifetime order of protection
issued pursuant to § 36-3-627; and
(ii) The conviction on which the lifetime order of protection is
based was for an offense involving the use of force against a victim.
(B) Any sentence of incarceration imposed must be served consecutively
to the sentence for any other offense that is based in whole or in part on the
same factual allegations. However, the sentencing judge may specifically order
the sentences for offenses arising out of the same facts to be served
concurrently.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 36-3-627(a)(1), is amended by
adding the following new subdivision:

- 2 - 011082

(D) A felony offense committed in another state that would constitute an offense
listed in this subdivision (a)(1) if committed in this state. If an offense in a jurisdiction
other than this state is not identified as one (1) of the offenses listed in this subdivision
(a)(1), then it must be considered an offense listed in this subdivision (a)(1) if the
elements of the offense are the same as the elements of the comparable offense in this
state.
SECTION 4. Sections 1 and 2 of this act take effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare
requiring it, and apply to acts committed on or after that date. Section 3 takes effect upon
becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.