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

SB1938 • 2026

Orders of Protection

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 36 and Title 39, relative to lifetime orders of protection.

Children Crime
Active

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

Sponsor
Jackson, Littleton
Last action
2026-04-14
Official status
Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/21/2026
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on the cost implications or certainty of passage for this bill.

Lifetime Orders of Protection

This bill amends Tennessee laws to expand eligibility for lifetime orders of protection and increase penalties for violating these orders.

What This Bill Does

  • Expands the types of crimes that allow victims, including immediate family members of minor or homicide victims, to ask for a lifetime order of protection.
  • Requires judges to give longer sentences if someone violates a lifetime order of protection after being convicted of using force against a victim.
  • Allows victims who are immediate family members of minor or homicide victims to file for lifetime orders of protection.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Victims of certain violent crimes and their families
  • People who violate lifetime orders of protection

Terms To Know

Lifetime order of protection
A court order that lasts for a long time to protect someone from being hurt by another person.
Felony offense
A serious crime that can lead to more than one year in prison.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how much it will cost the state or local governments.
  • It is unclear if this bill will pass and become law.

Amendments

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

Amendment 1-0 to HB1765

Plain English: The amendment changes how violations of lifetime orders of protection are treated under Tennessee law.

  • Adds a new section (g)(2) to the existing statute, making it a Class E felony if someone knowingly violates a lifetime order of protection issued after a conviction for an offense involving force against a victim.
  • Specifies that any prison sentence for violating this type of order must be served consecutively to other sentences based on the same facts, unless the judge orders them to run concurrently.
  • The amendment text does not provide details about how judges will determine if offenses are 'based in whole or in part' on the same factual allegations.
Amendment 1-0 to SB1938

Plain English: The amendment changes how violations of lifetime orders of protection are treated under Tennessee law.

  • Adds a new section (g)(2) to the existing statute, making it a Class E felony if someone knowingly violates a lifetime order of protection issued after a conviction for an offense involving force against a victim.
  • Specifies that any prison sentence for violating this type of order must be served consecutively to other sentences based on the same facts, unless the judge orders them to run concurrently.
  • The amendment text does not provide details about how judges will determine if offenses are 'based in whole or in part' on the same factual allegations.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  2. 2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  3. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed behind the budget

  4. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  5. 2026-03-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0

  6. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/3/2026

  7. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 3/4/2026

  8. 2026-02-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  9. 2026-02-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  10. 2026-02-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  11. 2026-02-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  12. 2026-02-18 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  13. 2026-02-18 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  14. 2026-02-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  15. 2026-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 2/18/2026

  16. 2026-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  17. 2026-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  18. 2026-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  19. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  20. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 2/11/2026

  21. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  22. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  23. 2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  24. 2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee

  25. 2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee

  26. 2026-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  27. 2026-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor change.

  28. 2026-01-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  29. 2026-01-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Present law authorizes
a victim
,

which includes
an immediate family member of a minor victim or a homicide victim
,
of any of the following offenses
to
file a petition for a lifetime order of protection against the offender who was convicted
of harassment; aggravated stalking or especially
aggravated stalking; or a
felony offense under any assaultive offense, criminal homicide, kidnapping and false imprisonment, or any sexual offense.

For acts
committed on or
after July 1, 2026, this bill also authorizes a victim to
file a petition for a lifetime order of protection against
the
offender who was convicted
of

a
felony offense committed in another state that would constitute an offense listed
above
if committed in this state. If an offense in a
nother
jurisdiction is not identified as one of the offenses listed
above,
then
the offense
must be considered an offense listed
above
if the elements of the offense are the same as the elements of
the comparable offense in this state.

PENALTY

Present law provides that it is an offense to knowingly violate a
n order of protection issued pursuant to domestic abuse laws or a restraining order issued to a victim as defined in domestic abuse laws.
Generally, such a violation is classified as
a Class A misdemeanor
,
punishable by a fine
of no less than
$100
and no more than
$2,500
.

This bill raises the classification to
a Class E felony if
(i) t
he offender knowingly violated a lifetime order of protection
and (ii) t
he conviction on which the lifetime order of protection is based was for an offense involving the use of force against a victim.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HOUSE BILL 1765
By Littleton

SENATE BILL 1938
By Jackson
SB1938
011082
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 36
and Title 39, relative to lifetime orders of
protection.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-13-113(g), is amended by
deleting "A violation of subsection (a)" and substituting "Except as provided in subdivision (g)(2),
a violation of subsection (a)".
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-13-113(g), is amended by
designating the current language as subdivision (g)(1) and adding the following subdivision
(g)(2):
(2)
(A) A violation of subsection (a) is a Class E felony if:
(i) The offender knowingly violated a lifetime order of protection
issued pursuant to § 36-3-627; and
(ii) The conviction on which the lifetime order of protection is
based was for an offense involving the use of force against a victim.
(B) Any sentence of incarceration imposed must be served consecutively
to the sentence for any other offense that is based in whole or in part on the
same factual allegations. However, the sentencing judge may specifically order
the sentences for offenses arising out of the same facts to be served
concurrently.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 36-3-627(a)(1), is amended by
adding the following new subdivision:

- 2 - 011082

(D) A felony offense committed in another state that would constitute an offense
listed in this subdivision (a)(1) if committed in this state. If an offense in a jurisdiction
other than this state is not identified as one (1) of the offenses listed in this subdivision
(a)(1), then it must be considered an offense listed in this subdivision (a)(1) if the
elements of the offense are the same as the elements of the comparable offense in this
state.
SECTION 4. Sections 1 and 2 of this act take effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare
requiring it, and apply to acts committed on or after that date. Section 3 takes effect upon
becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.