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HB2147 • 2026

Criminal Offenses

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39 and Title 49, relative to unmanned aircraft over schools.

Education Privacy
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Jones R, Crowe
Last action
2026-05-04
Official status
Comp. became Pub. Ch. 868
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Criminal Offenses

ON APRIL 2, 2026, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2434, AS AMENDED.

What This Bill Does

  • ON APRIL 2, 2026, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2434, AS AMENDED.
  • AMENDMENT #1 clarifies that the bill only applies to knowingly using an unmanned aircraft over the grounds of a public school that serves students in any of the grades K-12 with the intent to conduct surveillance of the school grounds without permission of a school administrator, the director of schools, or the director's designee.
  • It also does not apply to a law enforcement officer acting within the scope of the law enforcement officer's lawful duties.
  • ON APRIL 7, 2026, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 2434 FOR HOUSE BILL 2147, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2434, AS AMENDED.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Amendments

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

Amendment 1-0 to HB2147

Plain English: House Judiciary 1 Amendment No.

  • House Judiciary 1 Amendment No.
  • 1 to HB2147 Farmer Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
  • 2434 House Bill No.
  • 2147* HA0978 016581 - 1 - by deleting all language after the enacting clause and substituting: SECTION 1.
Amendment 1-0 to SB2434

Plain English: Senate Judiciary 1 Amendment No.

  • Senate Judiciary 1 Amendment No.
  • 1 to SB2434 Gardenhire Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
  • 2434 House Bill No.
  • 2147* SA0756 013671 - 1 - by deleting all language after the enacting clause and substituting: SECTION 1.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became Pub. Ch. 868

  2. 2026-05-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Effective date(s) 07/01/2026

  3. 2026-05-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 868

  4. 2026-04-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Governor.

  5. 2026-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for action.

  6. 2026-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  7. 2026-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  8. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled and ready for signatures

  9. 2026-04-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Concurred, Ayes 33, Nays 0 (Amendment 1 - HA0978)

  10. 2026-04-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Message Calendar for 4/13/2026

  11. 2026-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  12. 2026-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. SB subst.

  13. 2026-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 73, Nays 14, PNV 2

  14. 2026-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0978)

  15. 2026-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Subst. for comp. HB.

  16. 2026-04-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.

  17. 2026-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  18. 2026-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/7/2026

  19. 2026-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  20. 2026-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 32, Nays 0

  21. 2026-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0756)

  22. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/2/2026

  23. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  24. 2026-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/2/2026

  25. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 4/1/2026

  26. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Judiciary Committee to 4/1/2026

  27. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 3/23/2026

  28. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Judiciary Committee

  29. 2026-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0

  30. 2026-03-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/17/2026

  31. 2026-03-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 3/17/2026

  32. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/18/2026

  33. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 3/18/2026

  34. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/16/2026

  35. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/11/2026

  36. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 3/11/2026

  37. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/4/2026

  38. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee

  39. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee

  40. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  41. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  42. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  43. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  44. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

ON APRIL 2, 2026, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2434, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 clarifies that the bill only applies to knowingly using an unmanned aircraft over the grounds of a public school that serves students in any of the grades K-12 with the intent to conduct surveillance of the school grounds without permission
of a school administrator, the director of schools, or the director's designee. It also does not apply to a law enforcement officer acting within the scope of the law enforcement officer's lawful duties.

ON APRIL 7, 2026, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 2434 FOR HOUSE BILL 2147, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2434, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 clarifies that the bill also does not apply to the operator of an unmanned aircraft that is being used for a commercial purpose if the operator is authorized by the federal aviation administration to conduct operations in that airspace.

ON APRIL 13, 2026, THE SENATE CONCURRED IN HOUSE AMENDMENT #
1
.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL 2434
By Crowe

HOUSE BILL 2147
By Jones R
HB2147
012141
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39
and Title 49, relative to unmanned aircraft over
schools.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-13-903(a)(6), is amended by
deleting "subdivision (a)(6)" in subdivisions (a)(6)(B) and (a)(6)(C) and substituting "subdivision
(a)(7)".
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-13-903(a), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision (5) and renumbering the subsequent subdivisions:
(5) Knowingly uses an unmanned aircraft over the grounds of a school;
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-13-903, is amended by deleting
subsection (b) and substituting:
(b)
(1) An offense under subdivisions (a)(1)-(6) is a Class C misdemeanor.
(2) An offense under subdivision (a)(7) is a Class E felony.
SECTION 4. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.