KLS Keeping Law Simple Legislation in plain English

Straight-ahead summaries built from the official bill text. We keep the source links front and center and leave the decision up to you.

Back to Tennessee

SB1473 • 2026

Courts, Municipal

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 6; Title 7; Title 13; Title 16, Chapter 18 and Title 29, Chapter 3, relative to violations of municipal ordinances.

Budget
Active

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

Sponsor
Taylor, Harris
Last action
2026-04-09
Official status
Enrolled and ready for signatures
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details about how municipalities can recover costs through legal means other than liens.

Changes to Municipal Ordinance Violations

This bill changes how Tennessee handles violations of municipal ordinances related to property maintenance by removing certain powers and clarifying financial responsibilities.

What This Bill Does

  • Removes the ability for a municipal court to order a city or town to fix problems with property maintenance if someone does not follow the rules within 30 days.
  • Clarifies that cities and towns can decide whether they want to fix violations based on their budget and financial situation, prohibiting remediation if it negatively impacts the municipality's finances.
  • Allows cities and towns to recover costs from property owners through legal means beyond just putting a lien on the property.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Municipal courts
  • Cities and towns in Tennessee
  • Property owners who violate municipal ordinances

Terms To Know

lien
A legal claim on a property to secure the payment of a debt or charge.
ordinance
A rule or law made by a city or town government.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if a municipality cannot afford to fix violations.
  • It is unclear how property owners will be informed about the new rules and their responsibilities.
  • There are no details on how municipalities can recover costs through legal means other than liens.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Amendment 1-0 to HB2034

Plain English: This amendment allows municipalities to fix property maintenance violations if the owner does not do so within 30 days and charges the cost to the property owner.

  • Municipalities can now correct property maintenance issues that violate local ordinances when owners fail to address them within 30 days of being found in violation.
  • The municipality may charge the cost of fixing these violations as a lien on the property or through other legal means.
  • It is unclear what specific 'reasonable standards' for costs are, and how they will be determined by municipalities.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled and ready for signatures

  2. 2026-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Concurred, Ayes 25, Nays 3 (Amendment 1 - HA0759)

  3. 2026-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Message Calendar for 4/9/2026

  4. 2026-04-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 56, Nays 26, PNV 7

  5. 2026-04-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0759)

  6. 2026-04-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Subst. for comp. HB.

  7. 2026-04-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. SB subst.

  8. 2026-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/6/2026

  9. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/2/2026

  10. 2026-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  11. 2026-03-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee

  12. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  13. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Judiciary Committee to 3/25/2026

  14. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 3/18/2026

  15. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Judiciary Committee to 3/18/2026

  16. 2026-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.

  17. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 3/11/2026

  18. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  19. 2026-03-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  20. 2026-03-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  21. 2026-03-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate, Ayes 27, Nays 4, PNV 1

  22. 2026-02-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/2/2026

  23. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Civil Justice Subcommittee for 3/4/2026

  24. 2026-02-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  25. 2026-02-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 2/24/2026

  26. 2026-02-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 2/24/2026

  27. 2026-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 2/17/2026

  28. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Civil Justice Subcommittee

  29. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee

  30. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  31. 2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  32. 2026-01-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  33. 2026-01-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  34. 2025-11-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

ON APRIL 6, 2026, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 1473 FOR HOUSE BILL 2034, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 1473, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 removes authorization for a municipal court to order a municipality to remedy a violation and clarifies that the municipality can exercise its discretion in deciding whether to remedy the violation. This amendment prohibits a

municipality from remediating a violation if the cost may negatively impact the municipality's financial position, or if the cost is budgetarily prohibitive.

This amendment specifies that, in addition to assessing remediation costs against a property owner in the form of a lien, a municipality may recover remediation costs through all other legal means.

ON APRIL 9, 2026, THE SENATE CONCURRED IN HOUSE AMENDMENT #1.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HOUSE BILL 2034
By Harris

SENATE BILL 1473
By Taylor
SB1473
009841
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 6;
Title 7; Title 13; Title 16, Chapter 18 and Title 29,
Chapter 3, relative to violations of municipal
ordinances.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 16, Chapter 18, Part 3, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) Notwithstanding another law to the contrary, if a municipal court has found a
person or entity to be in violation of a municipal ordinance related to the maintenance of
property and the person or entity in violation of the municipal ordinance has failed to
remedy the property maintenance violation within thirty (30) days of the municipal court's
finding that the ordinance has been violated, then the municipal court may order the
municipality to remedy the ordinance violation at a cost in conformity with reasonable
standards.
(b) The cost of remediation must be assessed against the owner of the property
in the form of a lien upon the property in favor of the municipality.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.