Tennessee legislation · 114th General Assembly
Tennessee HB1268: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8; Title 10; Title 16; Title 37; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40; Title 41 and Title 55, relative to criminal justice.
Status: Chaptered, May 15, 2026
Fiscal Summary NOT SIGNIFICANT Bill Summary ON APRIL 22, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1268, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, enact the "Violent Criminal Court Act," which, beginning September 1, 2026, creates within the 30th judicial district two additional criminal courts to be designated as violent criminal courts. This amendment requires the governor to appoint a person to serve as judge of each of the violent criminal courts, and each person must serve in that capacity until September 1, 2028, or until the person's successor is elected and qualified. At the August 2028 general election, the qualified voters of the 30th judicial district must elect one person to serve as judge of each such violent criminal court. The person so elected at the August 2028 general election will hold office until September 1, 2030, or until the person's successor is elected and qualified. Then the judges of the violent criminal courts will be elected for a full eight-year term This amendment requires the presiding judge to address caseload backlogs in the criminal courts by transferring cases involving any of the following criminal offenses to the violent criminal courts for disposition: Sexual Offenses Rape Aggravated sexual battery Sexual battery Aggravated statutory rape, when the victim is between 13 and 18 and the defendant is at least 10 years older Statutory rape by an authority figure Indecent exposure, when the offense is a felony Public indecency where the offense involves masturbation or use of an inanimate object on school or childcare property Incest Female genital mutilation Conspiracy, solicitation, or criminal attempt of any of the above Violence Against Minors Continuous sexual abuse of a child Se
What the bill says
From the amended text:
Senate Finance, Ways, and Means 1 Amendment No. 4 to SB0846 Watson Signature of Sponsor AMEND S e n ate Bill No. 846* House Bill No. 1268 by deleting all language after the caption and substituting instead: WHEREAS, the General Assembly recognizes that a critical need exists in the thirtieth judicial district for additional criminal justice resources because of an increase in violent crime; and WHEREAS, from 2018 to 2024, the number of homicide offenses in the thirtieth judicial district increased by thirty-three percent, and the number of aggravated assault offenses increased by forty-one percent; and WHEREAS, a task force was created by President Donald Trump to combat crime in the thirtieth judicial district, and the task force operations have resulted in thousands of arrests, straining the criminal court system in the thirtieth judicial district; and WHEREAS, it is the intent of the General Assembly to increase the efficiency of the criminal justice system by adding additional criminal courts to the thirtieth judicial district for the purpose of handling violent crime cases; and WHEREAS, the goals of the violent criminal courts created by this act (2) Expediting criminal case processing by increasing trial capacity; (3) Reducing caseloads for prosecutors and public defenders; and (4) Increasing public safety through more expeditious case processing; now, therefore, SECTION 1. This act is known …