HB2309 • 2026

Criminal Offenses

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 29 and Title 39, relative to criminal conduct.

Crime

Enacted

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

Sponsor: Carringer, Bailey
Last action: 2026-05-27
Official status: Comp. became Pub. Ch. 1140
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

Present law provides that a person commits the offense of vandalism who knowingly causes damage to, or the destruction of, any real or personal property of another or of the state, the United States, a county, a city, or a town knowing that the person do es not have the owner's effective consent.

What This Bill Does

Present law provides that a person commits the offense of vandalism who knowingly causes damage to, or the destruction of, any real or personal property of another or of the state, the United States, a county, a city, or a town knowing that the person do es not have the owner's effective consent.
In addition to any sentence imposed for the offense, the court must include an order of restitution for any property damage or loss or cleaning and restoration expenses incurred as a result of the offense.
This bill requires, in addition to any sentence imposed for such a violation, if the offense occurred at a house of worship, the court to also include as part of the sentence a fine of no less than two times the total amount of any property damage or los s or cleaning and restoration expenses incurred by the house of worship as a result of the offense.
ON MARCH 23, 2026, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2468, 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.

HA0772

Amendment 1-0 to HB2309

Plain English: House Judiciary 1 Amendment No.

House Judiciary 1 Amendment No.
1 to HB2309 Farmer Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
2468* House Bill No.
2309 HA0772 015083 - 1 - by deleting SECTION 2 and substituting the following: SECTION 2.

HA1254

Amendment 2-0 to HB2309

Plain English: Amendment No.

Amendment No.
2 to HB2309 Salinas Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
2468* House Bill No.
2309 HA1254 018675 - 1 - by adding the following new subdivision to SECTION 2: (i) This offense applies to federal law enforcement agents acting in their official capacity, if the agent's actions meet the elements of the offense.

SA0633

Amendment 1-0 to SB2468

Plain English: Senate Judiciary 1 Amendment No.

Senate Judiciary 1 Amendment No.
1 to SB2468 Gardenhire Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
2468* House Bill No.
2309 SA0633 015083 - 1 - by deleting SECTION 2 and substituting the following: SECTION 2.

Bill History

2026-05-27 Tennessee General Assembly
Comp. became Pub. Ch. 1140
2026-05-27 Tennessee General Assembly
Effective date(s) 07/01/2026
2026-05-27 Tennessee General Assembly
Pub. Ch. 1140
2026-05-22 Tennessee General Assembly
Signed by Governor.
2026-05-11 Tennessee General Assembly
Transmitted to Governor for action.
2026-05-07 Tennessee General Assembly
Signed by H. Speaker
2026-04-30 Tennessee General Assembly
Signed by Senate Speaker
2026-04-30 Tennessee General Assembly
Enrolled and ready for signatures
2026-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2026-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly
Comp. SB subst.
2026-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed H., Ayes 93, Nays 0, PNV 1
2026-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly
Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0772)
2026-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly
Subst. for comp. HB.
2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly
H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/21/2026
2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/20/2026
2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly
Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee
2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for 4/20/2026
2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly
Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee
2026-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/20/2026
2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly
Taken off notice for cal in s/c Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee of Finance, Ways and Means Committee
2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/15/2026
2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/14/2026
2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed behind the budget
2026-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly
Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/1/2026
2026-03-23 Tennessee General Assembly
Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee
2026-03-23 Tennessee General Assembly
Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee
2026-03-23 Tennessee General Assembly
Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
2026-03-23 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2026-03-23 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 29, Nays 0, PNV 1
2026-03-23 Tennessee General Assembly
Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0633)
2026-03-20 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/23/2026
2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 3/23/2026
2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly
Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Judiciary Committee
2026-03-16 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/18/2026
2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly
Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 3/18/2026
2026-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly
Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 0 PNV 1
2026-03-09 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/10/2026
2026-03-09 Tennessee General Assembly
Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 3/10/2026
2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/11/2026
2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/9/2026
2026-03-03 Tennessee General Assembly
Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 3/10/2026
2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/3/2026
2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly
Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee
2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly
P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee
2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly
Intro., P1C.
2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly
Filed for introduction
2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly
Introduced, Passed on First Consideration
2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly
Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Present law provides that a person commits the offense of vandalism who knowingly causes damage to, or the destruction of, any real or personal property of another or of the state, the United States, a county, a city, or a town knowing that the person do
es not have the owner's effective consent. In addition to any sentence imposed for the offense, the court must include an order of restitution for any property damage or loss or cleaning and restoration expenses incurred as a result of the offense.

This bill requires, in addition to any sentence imposed for such a violation, if the offense occurred at a house of worship, the court to also include as part of the sentence a fine of no less than two times the total amount of any property damage or los
s or cleaning and restoration expenses incurred by the house of worship as a result of the offense.

ON MARCH 23, 2026, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2468, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 makes the following revisions:



Provides it is
a

Class E felony

offense when
a
person

at a house of worship, by force, threat of force, or physical obstruction
to
ingress or egress to or from a house of worship, intentionally injures, intimidates, or interferes with a person's freedom of movement
,
or attempts to injure, intimidate
where the person has
a reasonable apprehension of bodily injury to the
mselves
or another
, or interfere with another lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the right of religious freedom under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution or Article I, § 3 of the Tennessee Constitution.
A
Class E felony
is
punishable by one to six year
s
in prison and
the
possibility of a fine up to $3,000.



Provides it is
a

Class E felony offense when
a
person intentionally damages or destroys or attempts to damage or destroy the property of a house of worship.



Provides that a second or subsequent offense of either of the Class E felonies described in the prior two bullet points is a

Class C felony
,
punishable by three to 15 years in prison and a possibility of a fine up to $10,000.



Authorizes a person who was lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the person's right of religious freedom at a house of worship at which the offense occurred
to
commence a civil action
.



Authorizes the entity that owns or operates the house of worship at which the offense occurred
to
commence a civil action
.



Authorizes the court
to
award the appropriate relief, including
i
njunctive relief;
c
ompensatory damages or statutory damages of $5,000 per violation;
p
unitive damages; and
r
easonable costs of bringing the action and attorney's fees.



If the attorney general determines that a person or group of persons has been injured by conduct constituting a violation of either Class E felony offense listed above,
then
this amendment authorizes the attorney general to commence a civil action seeking injunctive relief and a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed

$10,000 for a first violation that did not involve the use of or threat to use force;

$15,000 for a first violation involving the use of or threat to use force; or

$15,000

for a second or subsequent violation.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SENATE BILL 2468
By Bailey

HOUSE BILL 2309
By Carringer
HB2309
012081
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 29
and Title 39, relative to criminal conduct.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-14-408(c)(1), is amended by
adding the following new subdivision:
(C) Notwithstanding § 40-35-111, in addition to any sentence imposed for a
violation of subdivision (b)(1), if the offense occurred at a house of worship, the court
must include as part of the sentence a fine of no less than two (2) times the total amount
of any property damage or loss or cleaning and restoration expenses incurred by the
house of worship as a result of the offense.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.