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SB2085 • 2026

Victims' Rights

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 40-24-109, relative to the victims assistance assessment.

Crime Taxes
Active

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

Sponsor
Jackson, Martin B
Last action
2026-05-27
Official status
Effective date(s) 05/22/2026
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.

Victims' Rights

If a county elects to establish a program to assist victims of crime, present law requires the clerks of all courts of general sessions, circuit and criminal courts, municipal courts exercising general sessions court jurisdiction and any other court exer cising similar criminal jurisdiction to collect a victims assistance assessment of $45 from any person who does or is any of the following:  Enters a plea of guilty.

What This Bill Does

  • If a county elects to establish a program to assist victims of crime, present law requires the clerks of all courts of general sessions, circuit and criminal courts, municipal courts exercising general sessions court jurisdiction and any other court exer cising similar criminal jurisdiction to collect a victims assistance assessment of $45 from any person who does or is any of the following:  Enters a plea of guilty.
  •  Is found guilty by a judge or jury.
  •  Enters a plea of nolo contendere.
  •  Enters a plea pursuant to diversionary sentencing.

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 HB2023

Plain English: House Judiciary 1 Amendment No.

  • House Judiciary 1 Amendment No.
  • 1 to HB2023 Farmer Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
  • 2085* House Bill No.
  • 2023 HA0971 016454 - 1 - by deleting all language after the enacting clause and substituting: SECTION 1.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Effective date(s) 05/22/2026

  2. 2026-05-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 1115

  3. 2026-05-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became Pub. Ch. 1115

  4. 2026-05-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Governor.

  5. 2026-05-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for action.

  6. 2026-05-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  7. 2026-04-30 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  8. 2026-04-30 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled and ready for signatures

  9. 2026-04-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., Ayes 77, Nays 16, PNV 0

  10. 2026-04-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Am. 1 reconsidered, withdrawn.

  11. 2026-04-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Motion to reconsider adopted.

  12. 2026-04-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Motion to lift from table adopted.

  13. 2026-04-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate refused to concur in amendment

  14. 2026-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Message Calendar for 4/23/2026

  15. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 80, Nays 5, PNV 1

  16. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0971)

  17. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Subst. for comp. HB.

  18. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  19. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. SB subst.

  20. 2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  21. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  22. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  23. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate, Ayes 29, Nays 3, PNV 1

  24. 2026-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/16/2026

  25. 2026-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/14/2026

  26. 2026-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  27. 2026-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee

  28. 2026-04-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/15/2026

  29. 2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for 4/14/2026

  30. 2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  31. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/8/2026

  32. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  33. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  34. 2026-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  35. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 4/1/2026

  36. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Judiciary Committee to 4/1/2026

  37. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 3/31/2026

  38. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  39. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  40. 2026-03-16 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  41. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/16/2026

  42. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/18/2026

  43. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 3/18/2026

  44. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/11/2026

  45. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 3/11/2026

  46. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  47. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  48. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee

  49. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee

  50. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  51. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  52. 2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  53. 2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

If a county elects to establish a program to assist victims of crime, present law requires the clerks of all courts of general sessions, circuit and criminal courts, municipal courts exercising general sessions court jurisdiction and any other court exer
cising similar criminal jurisdiction to collect a victims assistance assessment of $45 from any person who does or is any of the following:



Enters a plea of guilty.



Is found guilty by a judge or jury.



Enters a plea of nolo contendere.



Enters a plea pursuant to diversionary sentencing.



Is found to be criminally responsible as principal for the commission of a criminal offense, except for crimes that have a maximum fine of less than $500 and no imprisonment.



Is found to be criminally responsible as principal for the commission of a criminal offense, except for violations of the motor vehicle laws, excluding DUIs or reckless driving, where the reckless driving was proximately caused by the use of an intoxicant.

This bill increases from $45 to $125 the victims assistance assessment placed on an individual as outlined above.

ALLOCATION OF ASSESSMENT

Present law requires that the first $3 of the $45 assessment be paid to the clerk of the court imposing the assessment for processing and handling. The remaining $42 must be transmitted to the county in which the offense occurred, for the exclusive use
of the victims assistance program previously designated by the county legislative body.

This bill, instead, requires the first $15 of each assessment to be paid to the clerk of the court imposing the
assessment for processing and handling. The remaining $110 must be transmitted to the county in which the offense occurred for the exclusive use of the victims assistance program previously designated by the county legislative body.

ON APRIL 21, 2026, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 2085 FOR HOUSE BILL 2023, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2085, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 clarifies that such clerks of court are authorized, not required, to increase the victims assistance assessment to up to $125. This amendment further clarifies the first $15 of each assessment must be paid to the clerk of the court for proc
essing and handling and the remaining amount must be transmitted to the county in which the offense occurred for the exclusive use of the victims assistance program previously designated by the county legislative body.

ON APRIL 23, 2026, THE SENATE NON-CONCURRED IN HOUSE AMENDMENT #
1
.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HOUSE BILL 2023
By Martin B

SENATE BILL 2085
By Jackson
SB2085
010968
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section
40-24-109, relative to the victims assistance
assessment.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 40-24-109, is amended by deleting
subsection (c) and substituting instead the following:
(c) The clerks of all courts of general sessions, circuit and criminal courts,
municipal courts exercising general sessions court jurisdiction, and any other court
exercising similar criminal jurisdiction shall collect a victims assistance assessment in
the sum of one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125) from a person who:
(1) Enters a plea of guilty;
(2) Is found guilty by a judge or jury;
(3) Enters a plea of nolo contendere;
(4) Enters a plea, pursuant to a diversionary sentencing statute, to a
criminal offense described in subsection (d);
(5) Is found guilty, or enters a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, to the
offense of attempting or conspiring to commit an offense described in subsection
(d); or
(6) Is found to be criminally responsible as principal for the commission
of an offense described in subsection (d).
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 40-24-109(g)(1), is amended by
deleting the subdivision and substituting:

- 2 - 010968

(1) The victims assistance assessment is subject to § 8-21-401 and is in addition
to all other taxes, costs, and fines. The first fifteen dollars ($15.00) of each assessment
must be paid to the clerk of the court imposing the assessment for processing and
handling. The remaining one hundred ten dollars ($110) must be transmitted to the
county in which the offense occurred for the exclusive use of the victims assistance
program previously designated by the county legislative body.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.