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SB0505 • 2026

Montgomery County

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 16 and Title 40, relative to veterans treatment courts.

Crime
Enacted

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

Sponsor
Powers, Maberry
Last action
2025-05-27
Official status
Comp. became Pub. Ch. 489
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Montgomery County Veterans Treatment Court Act

This bill allows defendants in Montgomery County to move their criminal cases to veterans treatment court if certain conditions are met.

What This Bill Does

  • Allows a defendant to ask the court to transfer their case to the veterans treatment court program in Montgomery County.
  • Requires that the veterans treatment court would have had jurisdiction over the case if it happened in Montgomery County.
  • Needs the defendant to give up their right to be tried by an impartial jury from the county where the crime occurred.
  • Requires the district attorney general for Montgomery County to agree to take on the transferred case.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Defendants who are part of criminal cases in Montgomery County
  • Courts with jurisdiction over defendants' cases
  • Veterans treatment court program in Montgomery County

Terms To Know

contiguous county
A county that shares a border or is next to another county.
district attorney general
The lawyer who represents the government in criminal cases and decides whether to bring charges against someone accused of a crime.

Limits and Unknowns

  • It's not clear how much money will be saved or spent by this change.
  • The bill does not specify what happens if one of the requirements is not met.

Bill History

  1. 2025-05-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became Pub. Ch. 489

  2. 2025-05-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Effective date(s) 05/21/2025

  3. 2025-05-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 489

  4. 2025-05-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Governor.

  5. 2025-05-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for his action.

  6. 2025-05-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  7. 2025-04-30 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  8. 2025-04-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.

  9. 2025-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Companion House Bill substituted

  10. 2025-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate, Ayes 33, Nays 0

  11. 2025-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.

  12. 2025-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  13. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 4/22/2025

  14. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  15. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  16. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., Ayes 86, Nays 0, PNV 1

  17. 2025-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/21/2025

  18. 2025-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Consent Calendar for 4/21/2025

  19. 2025-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/17/2025

  20. 2025-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee

  21. 2025-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  22. 2025-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/17/2025

  23. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/15/2025

  24. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rule #83(8) Suspended, to be heard in Senate Finance, Ways & Means Committee on 4/15/2025

  25. 2025-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/14/2025

  26. 2025-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed behind the budget

  27. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/9/2025

  28. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  29. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  30. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 4/2/2025

  31. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Judiciary Committee to 4/02/2025

  32. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 3/26/2025

  33. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  34. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/19/2025

  35. 2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  36. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/11/2025

  37. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  38. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  39. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee

  40. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee

  41. 2025-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  42. 2025-01-29 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  43. 2025-01-29 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

This bill authorizes a
defendant
to
file a motion to transfer the defendant's criminal case to the veterans treatment court program
in

Montgomery County
. The court with jurisdiction ov
er the defendant's case may transfer the case if
all of the following criteria is met
:



The veterans treatment court program in
Montgomery County
would have jurisdiction over the case if the offense had been committed in such
contiguous
county
.



The defendant files with the court a written waiver of the right to be tried by an impartial jury of the
continuous
county in which the crime was committed
.



The district attorney general for
Montgomery County
agrees to accept transfer of the case.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HOUSE BILL 524
By Maberry

SENATE BILL 505
By Powers

SB0505
002176
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 16
and Title 40, relative to veterans treatment courts.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 16, Chapter 6, Part 1, is amended by
adding the following new section:
Notwithstanding another law to the contrary, a defendant may file a motion to
transfer the defendant's criminal case to the veterans treatment court program of a
contiguous county having a population of not less than two hundred twenty thousand
(220,000) nor more than two hundred twenty thousand one hundred (220,100),
according to the 2020 federal census or any subsequent federal census. The court with
jurisdiction over the defendant's case may transfer the case if:
(1) The veterans treatment court program in the contiguous county would
have jurisdiction over the case if the offense had been committed in such county;
(2) The defendant files with the court a written waiver of the right to be
tried by an impartial jury of the county in which the crime was committed; and
(3) The district attorney general for the contiguous county agrees to
accept transfer of the case.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.