Tennessee legislation · 114th General Assembly
Tennessee HB2078: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 36, Chapter 8 and Title 40, Chapter 11, relative to expedited hearing procedures.
Status: Chaptered, May 4, 2026
Fiscal Summary NOT SIGNIFICANT Bill Summary The Families' Rights and Responsibilities Act provides that the liberty of a parent to the care, custody, and control of the parent's child, including the right to direct the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health of the child, is a fundamental right. Further, the Act provides that all parental rights are exclusively reserved to a parent of a child without obstruction by or interference from a government entity and lists several of those rights in statute. This bill adds to such Act that a bond condition that affects parental contact, custody, or visitation requires an expedited hearing within 15 calendar days of being imposed to determine if the condition meets the requirements. If the hearing is not held within 15 calendar days, then the bond condition is void. Before a court may impose or extend a bond condition prior to conviction in a criminal case that restricts, limits, or prohibits a defendant's parental contact with, custody of, or visitation with any minor child who is not a victim of the charged crime, this bill provides that the government bears the burden of establishing, by clear and convincing evidence, which the court must articulate through specific findings of fact, that all of the following criteria is met: A present and continuing threat of harm exists to the child. Less restrictive alternatives are insufficient to prevent the harm. The restriction is in the best interests of the child. This bill establishes a presumption that parental contact with a child is in the best interests of the child. ON MARCH 30, 2026, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 2365 FOR HOUSE BILL 2078, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2365, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 removes from the finding of fact that the threat of harm exists to the c
What the bill says
From the amended text:
House Judiciary 1 Amendment No. 1 to HB2078 Farmer Signature of Sponsor AMEND S e n ate Bill No. 2365 House Bill No. 2078* by deleting all language after the enacting clause and substituting: SECTION 1. This act is known and may be cited as the "Parental Rights Protection Act." SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 36-8-103, is amended by adding the following as a new subsection (h): (h) (1) A bond condition that affects parental contact, custody, or visitation requires an expedited hearing within fifteen (15) calendar days of being imposed to determine if the condition meets the requirements of this chapter. If the hearing is not held within fifteen (15) calendar days, then the bond condition is void. (2) Before a court may impose or extend a bond condition prior to conviction in a criminal case that restricts, limits, or prohibits a defendant's parental contact with, custody of, or visitation with any minor child who is not a victim of the charged crime, the government bears the burden of establishing, by clear and convincing evidence, which the court must articulate through specific findings of fact, (B) Less restrictive alternatives are insufficient to prevent the harm; and (C) The restriction is in the best interests of the child. HA0761 (3) For purposes of this subsection (h), there is a …