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SB1854 • 2026

Adoption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 18; Title 36, Chapter 1; Title 37; Title 49, Chapter 4, Part 9; Title 49, Chapter 5, Part 7 and Section 49-6-1304, relative to adoption.

Children
Active

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

Sponsor
Rose, Leatherwood
Last action
2026-02-02
Official status
Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material did not provide information on the immediate effectiveness or other updates to adoption laws beyond the specified time adjustment.

Changing Time for Adoption Records to Become Public

This bill changes how long adoption records stay private before they become open to anyone who wants to see them.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes the time from 100 years to 90 years that must pass after an adoption is finalized for its records to be made public.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People who were adopted in the past or are involved in current adoptions.
  • Anyone interested in viewing adoption records after 90 years have passed since an adoption was finalized.

Terms To Know

Adoption
The legal process of permanently placing a child with adoptive parents.
Confidential Adoption Records
Records about adoptions that are kept private and not open to public inspection.

Limits and Unknowns

  • Does not specify what happens if someone wants to see adoption records before the 90-year period is over.
  • The bill does not change other aspects of adoption laws beyond making this specific time adjustment.

Bill History

  1. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  2. 2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  3. 2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  4. 2026-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  5. 2026-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  6. 2026-01-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Abstract summarizes the bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HOUSE BILL 1781
By Leatherwood

SENATE BILL 1854
By Rose
SB1854
010766
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 18;
Title 36, Chapter 1; Title 37; Title 49, Chapter 4,
Part 9; Title 49, Chapter 5, Part 7 and Section 49-
6-1304, relative to adoption.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 36-1-149, is amended by deleting
"one hundred (100) years" wherever it appears and substituting "ninety (90) years".
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.