Judiciary Committee advances dozens of bills, including measures on courts, child welfare and immigration; votes at a glance

The Tennessee House Judiciary Committee worked through a lengthy calendar and advanced a broad set of bills across criminal law, child welfare, court administration and other topics.

Among measures the committee advanced:

- House Bill 1872 (sponsor: Zachary): Creates a civil cause of action for patients injured by a gender transition procedure if consent was given as a result of coercion as defined by Tennessee Code Annotated. The committee adopted amendments and voted to send the bill to Calendar and Rules (15 I, 3 no).

- House Bill 1707 (sponsor: Scarborough): Requires Tennessee state courts to cooperate with federal immigration authorities when enforcing federal immigration laws and directs possible referral to the State Board of Judicial Conduct if a judge obstructs enforcement; members debated whether existing judicial-conduct mechanisms already address alleged misconduct. The committee advanced the bill as amended (15 aye, 4 no).

- House Bill 1271 (sponsor: Cochran): Requires local and state entities to revise policies and references that refer to sex or gender to state those terms reflect biological reproductive characteristics (policy establishing male/female definitions) by a date certain; the committee adopted the amendment and sent the bill to Calendar and Rules (16 aye, 4 no).

- House Bill 2527 (child protective teams) and HB 2012 (nonconsensual intimate-image civil remedies) were both advanced unanimously (18–0) with adopted amendments.

Committee leaders said many items were technical and housekeeping in nature, while others touched on hot-button issues such as immigration, gender-related health care, and protections for houses of worship. Debate ranged from requests for clarification from legal staff to questions about funding implications and scope.

Votes at a glance (selected items):

- HB 1690 (auto insurance verification) — referred to Finance, Ways and Means: 15 yes, 3 no.
- HB 1471 (drug court pilot) — to Calendar and Rules: 17 yes, 0 no, 1 present not voting.
- HB 1872 (civil action — gender transition) — to Calendar and Rules: 15 yes, 3 no.
- HB 1707 (court cooperation with federal immigration enforcement) — to Calendar and Rules: 15 yes, 4 no.
- HB 1271 (definition of sex/gender policy for government documents) — to Calendar and Rules: 16 yes, 4 no.
- HB 2527 (child protective teams/training) — to Calendar and Rules: 18 yes, 0 no.
- HB 2012 (intimate images civil cause) — to Calendar and Rules: 18 yes, 0 no.

The committee recessed after finishing the calendar; items that were rolled or taken off notice will return on a future agenda.