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SB0996 • 2026

Criminal Procedure

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2; Title 4; Title 22; Title 36; Title 39 and Title 40, relative to rights of citizenship.

Housing
Active

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

Sponsor
Bailey, Dixie
Last action
2025-02-12
Official status
Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide details on how courts will determine if someone is indigent or what happens to petitions filed before the law was passed.

Amending Citizenship Restoration Costs

This bill changes Tennessee's laws about paying costs for restoring citizenship rights by allowing courts to waive these costs if a person is found to be indigent.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes the law so that people who want to restore their citizenship rights don't have to pay the costs of doing this if they are found to be indigent.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People in Tennessee who want to restore their citizenship rights and are found by a court to be indigent.
  • Courts that handle cases about restoring citizenship rights.

Terms To Know

indigent
A person who is very poor and cannot pay for basic needs like food, housing, or legal fees.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how courts will determine if someone is indigent.
  • It's unclear what happens to people whose petitions were filed before this law was passed.

Bill History

  1. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  2. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  3. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, caption bill, held on desk - pending amdt.

  4. 2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  5. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  6. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Abstract summarizes the bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HOUSE BILL 1031
By Dixie

SENATE BILL 996
By Bailey

SB0996
002925
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2;
Title 4; Title 22; Title 36; Title 39 and Title 40,
relative to rights of citizenship.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 40-29-104, is amended by deleting
the section and substituting:
The petitioner shall pay the costs of this application unless the court finds proof
satisfactory that the petitioner is indigent.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it,
and applies to petitions filed on or after that date.