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SB1737 • 2026

Criminal Offenses

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, relative to criminal offenses.

Crime
Enacted

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

Sponsor
White, Rudd
Last action
2026-05-15
Official status
Comp. became Pub. Ch. 951
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.

Criminal Offenses

This bill creates an offense for a person to knowingly travel, with intent to commit theft of another person's cash, from a commercial business, or a financial institution, on the same path or route as another person without substantial deviation from th at path or route while in possession of two or more criminal instruments.

What This Bill Does

  • This bill creates an offense for a person to knowingly travel, with intent to commit theft of another person's cash, from a commercial business, or a financial institution, on the same path or route as another person without substantial deviation from th at path or route while in possession of two or more criminal instruments.
  • The offense created in this bill is generally classified as a Class A misdemeanor, except in the following situations:  The offense is a Class D felony if, during the commission of the offense, the person commits a burglary offense.
  •  The offense is a Class B felony if, during the commission of the offense, the person commits a robbery offense.
  • As used in this bill, "criminal instrument" means an item or thing, the possession of which is not otherwise an offense, that is possessed, used, made, designed, or adapted for use in the commission of a burglary offense or theft of property.

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 HB1668

Plain English: House Judiciary 1 Amendment No.

  • House Judiciary 1 Amendment No.
  • 1 to HB1668 Farmer Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
  • 1737 House Bill No.
  • 1668* HA0600 013767 - 1 - by deleting subsection (a) from the amendatory language of SECTION 1 and substituting the following: (a) It is an offense for a person to knowingly travel, with intent to commit theft of another person's cash, from a commercial business; a financial institution, as defined in § 45-11-102; or an automated teller machine, on the same path or route as another person without substantial deviation from that path or route while in possession of two (2) or more criminal instruments.
Amendment 1-0 to SB1737

Plain English: Senate Finance, Ways, and Means 1 Amendment No.

  • Senate Finance, Ways, and Means 1 Amendment No.
  • 1 to SB1737 Watson Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
  • 1737 House Bill No.
  • 1668* SA1084 013767 - 1 - by deleting subsection (a) from the amendatory language of SECTION 1 and substituting the following: (a) It is an offense for a person to knowingly travel, with intent to commit theft of another person's cash, from a commercial business; a financial institution, as defined in § 45-11-102; or an automated teller machine, on the same path or route as another person without substantial deviation from that path or route while in possession of two (2) or more criminal instruments.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became Pub. Ch. 951

  2. 2026-05-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Effective date(s) 07/01/2026

  3. 2026-05-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 951

  4. 2026-05-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Governor.

  5. 2026-05-06 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. 2026-04-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.

  9. 2026-04-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  10. 2026-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Companion House Bill substituted

  11. 2026-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  12. 2026-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate, Ayes 25, Nays 6

  13. 2026-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA1084)

  14. 2026-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.

  15. 2026-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  16. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/22/2026

  17. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 3 PNV 0

  18. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  19. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 71, Nays 21, PNV 2

  20. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0600)

  21. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  22. 2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/21/2026

  23. 2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  24. 2026-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  25. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  26. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee

  27. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  28. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  29. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/15/2026

  30. 2026-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/21/2026

  31. 2026-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/20/2026

  32. 2026-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  33. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed behind the budget

  34. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 3/11/2026

  35. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  36. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  37. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 3/4/2026

  38. 2026-02-24 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  39. 2026-02-18 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  40. 2026-02-18 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  41. 2026-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 2/18/2026

  42. 2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  43. 2026-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  44. 2026-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee

  45. 2026-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee

  46. 2026-01-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  47. 2026-01-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  48. 2026-01-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

This bill creates an offense for a person to knowingly travel, with intent to commit theft of another person's cash, from a commercial business, or a financial institution, on the same path or route as another person without substantial deviation from th
at path or route while in possession of two or more criminal instruments.

The offense created in this bill is generally classified as a Class A misdemeanor, except in the following situations:



The offense is a Class D felony if, during the commission of the offense, the person commits a burglary offense.


The offense is a Class B felony if, during the commission of the offense, the person commits a robbery offense.

As used in this bill, "criminal instrument" means an item or thing, the possession of which is not otherwise an offense, that is possessed, used, made, designed, or adapted for use in the commission of a burglary offense or theft of property.

ON APRIL 21, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1668, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1
also applies the bill to a person who knowingly travels, with intent to commit theft of another person's cash, from an automatic teller machine.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HOUSE BILL 1668
By Rudd

SENATE BILL 1737
By White
SB1737
008929
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39,
relative to criminal offenses.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 1, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) It is an offense for a person to knowingly travel, with intent to commit theft of
another person's cash, from a commercial business or a financial institution, as defined
in § 45-11-102, on the same path or route as another person without substantial
deviation from that path or route while in possession of two (2) or more criminal
instruments.
(b)
(1) Except as provided in subdivisions (b)(2) and (b)(3), a violation of
subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor.
(2) A violation of subsection (a) is a Class D felony if, during the
commission of the offense, the person commits a violation of title 39, chapter 13,
part 10.
(3) A violation of subsection (a) is a Class B felony if, during the
commission of the offense, the person commits a violation of title 39, chapter 13,
part 4.
(c) As used in this section, "criminal instrument" means an item or thing, the
possession of which is not otherwise an offense, that is possessed, used, made,
designed, or adapted for use in the commission of an offense under title 39, chapter 13,
part 10 or § 39-14-103.

- 2 - 008929

SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.