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SB2591 • 2026

County Government

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2; Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 12 and Title 49, relative to public office.

Education Labor
Active

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

Sponsor
Briggs, Wright
Last action
2026-04-17
Official status
Sponsor(s) Added.
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.

County Government

ON APRIL 16, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENTS #1 AND 2, AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2319, AS AMENDED.

What This Bill Does

  • ON APRIL 16, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENTS #1 AND 2, AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2319, AS AMENDED.
  • AMENDMENT #1 c hanges this bill's effective date from upon becoming a law to January 1, 2027.
  • AMENDMENT #2 exempts county employees serving on a county commission on January 1, 2027, without regard to the expiration date of such employee's term.

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 HB2319

Plain English: House State & Local Government 1 Amendment No.

  • House State & Local Government 1 Amendment No.
  • 1 to HB2319 Crawford Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
  • 2591* House Bill No.
  • 2319 HA1096 016984 - 1 - by deleting the effective date section and substituting: SECTION 4.
Amendment 2-0 to HB2319

Plain English: House State & Local Government 2 Amendment No.

  • House State & Local Government 2 Amendment No.
  • 2 to HB2319 Crawford Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
  • 2591* House Bill No.
  • 2319 HA1097 017426 - 1 - by deleting Section 1 and substituting instead: SECTION 1.
Amendment 3-0 to HB2319

Plain English: Amendment No.

  • Amendment No.
  • 3 to HB2319 Hemmer Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
  • 2591* House Bill No.
  • 2319 HA1125 017774 - 1 - by inserting the following new section immediately preceding the effective date section and redesignating the effective date section accordingly: SECTION __.
Amendment 1-0 to SB2591

Plain English: Senate State and Local Government 1 Amendment No.

  • Senate State and Local Government 1 Amendment No.
  • 1 to SB2591 Briggs Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
  • 2591* House Bill No.
  • 2319 SA0959 016984 - 1 - by deleting the effective date section and substituting: SECTION 4.
Amendment 2-0 to SB2591

Plain English: The amendment clarifies that employees of local education agencies are not considered county employees and can qualify to run for elected office in their respective municipalities without being treated as municipal government employees.

  • Employees of a local education agency will no longer be counted as county employees under certain provisions.
  • A new sentence is added to Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 7-51-1501, stating that local education agency employees are not considered municipal or metropolitan government employees when qualifying for elected office.
  • The exact impact of these changes on current and future legislation is unclear without further context.
  • Details about the specific provisions affected by this amendment are limited in the provided text.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  2. 2026-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  3. 2026-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/20/2026

  4. 2026-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/20/2026

  5. 2026-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  6. 2026-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  7. 2026-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 72, Nays 11, PNV 10

  8. 2026-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Am. tabled. (Amendment 3 - HA1125)

  9. 2026-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 2 - HA1097)

  10. 2026-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA1096)

  11. 2026-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate Reset on calendar for 4/20/2026

  12. 2026-04-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/15/2026

  13. 2026-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/13/2026

  14. 2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/9/2026

  15. 2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee

  16. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. State & Local Government Committee for 4/8/2026

  17. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in State & Local Government Committee to 4/8/2026

  18. 2026-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 5, Nays 3 PNV 0

  19. 2026-03-30 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/31/2026

  20. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/31/2026

  21. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/31/2026

  22. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/25/2026

  23. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. State & Local Government Committee for 3/31/2026

  24. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in State & Local Government Committee to 3/31/2026

  25. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/25/2026

  26. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/25/2026

  27. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/24/2026

  28. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. State & Local Government Committee for 3/24/2026

  29. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to State & Local Government Committee

  30. 2026-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/24/2026

  31. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/17/2026

  32. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Cities & Counties Subcommittee for 3/18/2026

  33. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Cities & Counties Subcommittee to 3/18/2026

  34. 2026-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/17/2026

  35. 2026-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee

  36. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Cities & Counties Subcommittee for 3/11/2026

  37. 2026-03-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/10/2026

  38. 2026-03-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  39. 2026-03-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Approved by Delayed Bills Committee

  40. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Cities & Counties Subcommittee

  41. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to State & Local Government Committee

  42. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  43. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Refer to Senate Delayed Bills Committee

  44. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  45. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

ON APRIL 16, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED
AMENDMENTS #1 AND 2, AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2319, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 c
hanges this bill's effective date from upon becoming a law to January 1, 2027.

AMENDMENT #2
exempts county employees serving on a county commission on January 1, 2027, without regard to the expiration date of such employee's term.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HOUSE BILL 2319
By Wright

SENATE BILL 2591
By Briggs
SB2591
012754
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2;
Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 12 and
Title 49, relative to public office.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 5-5-102(c)(1), is amended by
deleting the subdivision and substituting instead:
(1) A county employee is disqualified from serving as a member of the county
legislative body. A county employee serving on a county commission on the effective
date of this act may continue to hold such office until the expiration of the term.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 7-51-1501, is amended by deleting
the language "unless otherwise authorized by law or local ordinance,".
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 7-51-1502, is amended by deleting
the section.
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.