Tennessee legislation · 114th General Assembly

Tennessee HB489: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 38; Title 39; Title 40 and Title 55, relative to criminal law.

Status: Chaptered, May 27, 2026

Fiscal Summary NOT SIGNIFICANT Bill Summary ON APRIL 6, 2026, THE SENATE PASSED SENATE BILL 254. ON APRIL 8, 2026, THE HOUSE REQUESTED THAT THE SENATE RETURN SENATE BILL 254. ON APRIL 9, 2026, THE SENATE RETURNED SENATE BILL 254 TO THE HOUSE. ON APRIL 23, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 254, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #2 rewrites the bill to, instead, require that a defendant who is ordered to wear a transdermal monitoring device or alternative device, including other alternative alcohol or drug monitoring device, or global positioning monitoring device (collectively "device"), as a condition of pretrial release, and who has not been determined by the court to be indigent, to pay all fees associated with the installation, monitoring, maintenance, and operation of the device. PRE-TRIAL RELEASE This amendment provides that a defendant's failure to make a payment within five days after the due date constitutes nonpayment and may result in termination of device monitoring. If a defendant fails to pay the costs associated with operating the defendant's device, then the qualified electronic monitoring provider or the government agency providing such services (collectively "provider"), must notify the court and the defendant in writing within five days of the arrearage. The court must, within 10 days of receiving the notice, set a show cause hearing to be held within 30 days. The clerk of the court must notify the defendant and the provider of the date and time of such hearing. The provider may not discontinue the defendant's monitoring before the such hearing has been held. At the show cause hearing, this amendment authorizes the court to take any of the following actions: • Schedule a bond hearing to determine whether to revoke the defendant's bond and incarcerate the defendant.