Children

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide information on enforcement mechanisms for GPS monitoring compliance or consequences for failing to complete required counseling and mental health evaluations.

Juvenile Monitoring and Counseling Act

This bill allows courts to order children accused of delinquency or unruliness to wear GPS tracking devices and requires expelled students who threaten mass violence to undergo counseling and mental health evaluations before returning to school.

What This Bill Does

• Allows a court to order a child, if released before a hearing for being delinquent or unruly, to wear a GPS monitoring device.
• Requires the entity operating the GPS system to notify the probation officer or other responsible party if the child violates any instructions given by the court.
• Requires expelled students who threaten mass violence on school property or at related activities to undergo counseling and mental health evaluations before returning to school.
• Specifies that these evaluations must be conducted by a licensed professional designated by the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services.
• States that parents or the student, if 18 years old or older, are responsible for paying for the costs of counseling and mental health evaluations.

Who It Names or Affects

• Children accused of delinquency or unruliness who may be ordered to wear GPS tracking devices.
• Students expelled from school for threatening mass violence on school property or at related activities.
• Parents of students under the age of 18 who are required to pay for counseling and mental health evaluations.

Terms To Know

GPS monitoring system

A device that tracks a person's location using satellite technology.

Zero tolerance policy

A school rule where certain behaviors result in automatic punishment, such as expulsion.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if parents or students cannot afford the costs of counseling and mental health evaluations.
• It is unclear how schools will enforce compliance with GPS monitoring requirements for children released before hearings.
• There are no details on the consequences if a student fails to complete required counseling and mental health evaluations.

Official Summary Text

GLOBAL POSITIONIN
G MONITORING SYSTEM
DEVICE

When a child alleged to be delinquent or unruly is brought before
a
court,
present law authorizes
the court
to
notify a probation officer attached to the court or any such person, persons
,
or agencies available to the court, or
to the department of children's services
. Such notified party must accomplish certain duties set out by law. I
f the court appoints
such a
person
or entity
, the
n this bill authorizes
the court
to
order the child to wear a global positioning monitoring sy
stem device and order the entity that operates the global positioning monitoring system to notify the appointed person or entity if the child violates the instructions issued by the court upon release.

MANDATORY COUNSELING

Present law provides that it
is the legislative intent that if a rule or policy is designated as a zero

tolerance policy
in schools
, then violations of that rule or policy must not be tolerated and violators
must
receive certain, swift, and proportionate punishment.
I
f a student is
expelled for committing a zero tolerance offense for threatening mass violence on school property or at a school-related activity, then
this bill requires all of the following to occur:



The director of schools or the head of the public charter school must require the student to undergo counseling and a mental health evaluation to determine whether the student is a threat to themselves or to others before the student may return to school, regardless of whether the student has completed the term of the student's expulsion.



The mental health evaluation must be conducted on an outpatient basis by a mental health agency or a licensed private practitioner designated by the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services. The evaluator
must
report its findings to the director of schools or the head of the public charter school. A report is confidential and must not be shared with others, except as may otherwise be required by law.



The costs of the counseling and mental health evaluation

must be borne by the student's parents or the student, if the student is
18 or older.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 629
By Hardaway

SENATE BILL 1186
By Akbari

SB1186
002523
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 37;
Title 39; Title 40, Chapter 11 and Title 49, relative
to juveniles.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 37-1-128(a), is amended by adding
the following new subdivision:
(3) If the court appoints a person or entity to take charge of a child pursuant to
subdivision (a)(1), then the court may order the child to wear a global positioning
monitoring system device and order the entity that operates the global positioning
monitoring system to notify the appointed person or entity if the child violates the
instructions issued by the court upon release. As used in this subdivision (a)(3), "global
positioning monitoring system" means the same as defined in § 40-11-152.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-3401(g), is amended by
redesignating subdivision (g)(5) as subdivision (g)(5)(A), by deleting the language "subdivision
(g)(5)" wherever it appears and substituting instead the language "subdivision (g)(5)(A)", and by
adding the following as a new subdivision (g)(5)(B):
(B)
(i) If a student is expelled for committing a zero tolerance offense for
threatening mass violence on school property or at a school-related activity in
accordance with this section, then the director of schools or the head of the
public charter school shall require the student to undergo counseling and a
mental health evaluation to determine whether the student is a threat to

- 2 - 002523

themselves or to others before the student may return to school, regardless of
whether the student has completed the term of the student's expulsion.
(ii) The mental health evaluation required in subdivision (g)(5)(B)(i) must
be conducted on an outpatient basis by a mental health agency or a licensed
private practitioner designated by the commissioner of mental health and
substance abuse services. The evaluator shall report its findings to the director
of schools or the head of the public charter school. A report submitted to a
director of schools or head of a public charter school pursuant to this subdivision
(g)(5)(B)(ii) is confidential and must not be shared with others, except as may
otherwise be required by law.
(iii) The costs of the counseling and mental health evaluation required
pursuant to subdivision (g)(5)(B)(i) must be borne by the student's parents or the
student, if the student is eighteen (18) years of age or older.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-4002(e)(5), is amended by
deleting "§ 49-6-3401(g)(5)" and substituting "§ 49-6-3401(g)(5)(A)".
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-4301(a)(3), is amended by
deleting "§ 49-6-3401(g)(5)" and substituting "§ 49-6-3401(g)(5)(A)".
SECTION 5. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it, and
applies to actions occurring on or after that date.