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HB2574 • 2026

DUI Offenses

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 55-10-407, relative to driving under the influence of an intoxicant.

Crime
Active

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

Sponsor
Kumar, Roberts
Last action
2026-05-27
Official status
Effective date(s) 01/01/2027
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.

DUI Offenses

Present law authorizes a law enforcement officer to request that the operator of a motor vehicle submit to a test for the purpose of determining the alcohol or drug content of that operator's blood if there is probable cause to believe the operator is (i) driving while under the influence of any intoxicant, controlled substance, controlled substance analogue, drug, or substance affecting the central nervous system; (ii) committing the offense of vehicular assault or aggravated vehicular assault; or (iii) c ommitting the offense of vehicular homicide or aggravated vehicular homicide.

What This Bill Does

  • Present law authorizes a law enforcement officer to request that the operator of a motor vehicle submit to a test for the purpose of determining the alcohol or drug content of that operator's blood if there is probable cause to believe the operator is (i) driving while under the influence of any intoxicant, controlled substance, controlled substance analogue, drug, or substance affecting the central nervous system; (ii) committing the offense of vehicular assault or aggravated vehicular assault; or (iii) c ommitting the offense of vehicular homicide or aggravated vehicular homicide.
  • Refusal to submit to testing results in the suspension of the operator's driver license.
  • If a person does not have a prior conviction for driving under the influence, such a su spension is for one year.
  • The operator's driver license must be suspended for one year and six months if the person does not have a previous conviction for driving under the influence, but is suspected of having committed a misdemeanor violation for driv in g under the influence and at the time of the stop in which they refused to submit to testing.

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 HB2574

Plain English: House Judiciary 1 Amendment No.

  • House Judiciary 1 Amendment No.
  • 1 to HB2574 Farmer Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
  • 2640* House Bill No.
  • 2574 HA0864 015606 - 1 - by deleting the effective date section and substituting: SECTION 2.
Amendment 1-0 to SB2640

Plain English: Senate Judiciary 1 Amendment No.

  • Senate Judiciary 1 Amendment No.
  • 1 to SB2640 Gardenhire Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
  • 2640* House Bill No.
  • 2574 SA0753 015606 - 1 - by deleting the effective date section and substituting: SECTION 2.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Effective date(s) 01/01/2027

  2. 2026-05-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 1046

  3. 2026-05-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became Pub. Ch. 1046

  4. 2026-05-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Governor.

  5. 2026-05-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for his action.

  6. 2026-05-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  7. 2026-04-30 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  8. 2026-04-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.

  9. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate, Ayes 27, Nays 6

  10. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0753)

  11. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.

  12. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  13. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  14. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 70, Nays 13, PNV 9

  15. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0864)

  16. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Companion House Bill substituted

  17. 2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  18. 2026-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/21/2026

  19. 2026-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/21/2026

  20. 2026-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/20/2026

  21. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/16/2026

  22. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee

  23. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for 4/15/2026

  24. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  25. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  26. 2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  27. 2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  28. 2026-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/8/2026

  29. 2026-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee to 4/8/2026

  30. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee to the Drivers License Calendar

  31. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/7/2026

  32. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/1/2026

  33. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  34. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  35. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  36. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  37. 2026-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 7, Nays 2 PNV 0

  38. 2026-03-16 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  39. 2026-03-16 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  40. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  41. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  42. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee

  43. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee

  44. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  45. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  46. 2026-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  47. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  48. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Present law authorizes a law enforcement officer to request that the operator of a motor vehicle submit to a test for the purpose of determining the alcohol or drug content of that operator's blood if there is probable cause to believe the operator is (i)
driving while under the influence of any intoxicant, controlled substance, controlled substance analogue, drug, or substance affecting the central nervous system; (ii) committing the offense of vehicular assault or aggravated vehicular assault; or (iii)
c
ommitting the offense of vehicular homicide or aggravated vehicular homicide. Refusal to submit to testing results in the suspension of the operator's driver license. If a person does not have a prior conviction for driving under the influence, such a su
spension is for one year. The operator's driver license must be suspended for one year and six months if the person does not have a previous conviction for driving under the influence, but is suspected of having committed a misdemeanor violation for driv
in
g under the influence and at the time of the stop in which they refused to submit to testing.

This bill provides that a refusal to submit to testing must result in the operator's driver license being suspended for one year and six months, if the operator does not have a prior conviction for driving under the influence, regardless of whether the o
perator is suspected of having committed a misdemeanor violation for driving under the influence.

ON APRIL 21, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2574, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 changes the effective date of the bill from

upon
becoming a law
to
January 1, 2027
.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
SENATE BILL 2640
By Roberts

HOUSE BILL 2574
By Kumar
HB2574
011388
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section
55-10-407, relative to driving under the influence
of an intoxicant.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 55-10-407, is amended by deleting
subdivision (a)(1) and substituting:
(1) One (1) year and six (6) months, if the person does not have a prior
conviction as defined in subsection (e);
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.