Courts

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and text do not provide specific details on limitations regarding how courts determine eligibility based on criteria for violent offenders, only that judges have discretion in determining eligibility.

Drug Court Expansion in Tennessee

This bill creates a pilot project to expand eligibility for drug court treatment programs in certain judicial districts of Northeast Tennessee.

What This Bill Does

• Creates a pilot program that allows more people to join the drug court treatment program at the Northeast Tennessee Regional Recovery Center.
• Gives judges discretion to determine who can join the expanded drug court program based on specific criteria.

Who It Names or Affects

• People in Carter, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington counties who are eligible for drug court treatment programs.
• Judges overseeing drug courts in the specified judicial districts.

Terms To Know

violent offender

A person with specific felony convictions within the last ten years involving weapons or serious harm to others, and one or more prior convictions for a felony crime of violence involving the use or attempted use of force against a person.

Limits and Unknowns

• The pilot project will end on June 30, 2028.
• It's unclear how much extra money will be needed for this program because many factors are unknown.

Official Summary Text

ON MARCH 30, 2026, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 1909 FOR HOUSE BILL 1471, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND RESET SENATE BILL 1909, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, create a pilot project expanding the eligibility of participants in the drug court treatment program in the first, second, and third judicial districts who are referred to the Northeast Tennessee Regional Recov
ery Center. Such judicial districts include Carter, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington counties. The pilot project expires on June 30, 2028.

ELIGIBILITY

For purposes of the pilot project, this amendment provides that the presiding judge of the drug court treatment program for the first, second, and third judicial districts has discretion in determining the eligibility of participants in the drug court tr
eatment program who are referred to the Northeast Tennessee Regional Recovery Center. When determining eligibility of participants in the pilot project, a "violent offender" means a person who meets all of the following criteria:

(1) Has been convicted of a felony offense within the previous 10 years, during which (i) the person carried, possessed, or used a firearm or dangerous weapon; (ii) there occurred the death of or serious bodily injury to any person; or (iii) the person
committed a felony involving the use of force against the person of another.

(2) Has one or more prior convictions for a felony crime of violence involving the use or attempted use of force against a person with the intent to cause death or serious bodily harm.

In determining whether a defendant is a violent offender, this amendment prohibits the court from considering whether one or more of the circumstances described in (1) above is or is not an element of the offense for which the person is convicted.

ON APRIL 6, 2026, THE HOUSE FURTHER CONSIDERED SENATE BILL 1909, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2, AND HELD SENATE BILL 1909 ON THE DESK.

AMENDMENT #2 removes the changes made by House Amendment #1 and restores the language of the bill as introduced.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 1471
By Hicks T

SENATE BILL 1909
By Stevens
SB1909
010276
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 16,
Chapter 22, relative to drug courts.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 16-22-103(4)(A)(i), is amended by
deleting "an offense, during" and substituting "a felony offense within the previous ten (10)
years, during".
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 16-22-103, is amended by deleting
subdivision (4)(A)(iii).
SECTION 3. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.