Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee House Bill HB1294 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2	SENATE BILL 1100
3	3	By Campbell
4	4
5	5	HOUSE BILL 1294
6	6	By Powell
7	7
8	8
9	9	HB1294
10	10	001472
11	11	- 1 -
12	12
13	13	AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4,
14	14	Chapter 3; Title 40 and Title 41, relative to
15	15	correctional institutions.
16	16
17	17	BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
18	18	SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 3, Part 6, is amended by
19	19	adding the following new section:
20	20	(a) As used in this section:
21	21	(1) "Book vendor" means a nonprofit organization that provides books
22	22	and educational materials donated by authors, publishers, and other individuals
23	23	to state inmates;
24	24	(2) "Contraband" means an item that is not permitted by law, or that is
25	25	either prohibited or not specifically authorized by the department or correctional
26	26	institution policy;
27	27	(3) "Correctional institution" means a facility under the authority of this
28	28	state, a county, a municipal government, or a privately managed facility that has
29	29	the power to detain or restrain, or both, a person under the laws of this state;
30	30	(4) "Department" means the department of correction or the
31	31	commissioner of correction;
32	32	(5) "Feature" or "features" means the display or depiction of nudity or
33	33	sexually explicit conduct in books or other printed materials on a routine or
34	34	regular basis or the promotion of such depictions in individual one-time issues.
35	35	"Feature" or "features" does not include the display or depiction of nudity
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37	37
38	38	- 2 - 001472
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40	40	illustrative of medical, educational, or anthropological content in books or other
41	41	publications;
42	42	(6) "Nudity" means depictions where genitalia or female breasts are
43	43	exposed. "Nudity" does not include publications containing nudity illustrative of
44	44	medical, educational, or anthropological content;
45	45	(7) "Printed materials" means books, publications, magazines,
46	46	newspapers, periodicals, circulars, catalogues, or clippings that are portions of
47	47	such materials, delivered by a postal or other delivery service to correctional
48	48	institutions by book venders; and
49	49	(8) "Sexually explicit" means depictions of actual or simulated sexual
50	50	acts, including sexual intercourse, oral sex, or masturbation, or material that
51	51	promotes itself based on such depictions on a routine or regular basis or in
52	52	individual one-time issues.
53	53	(b)
54	54	(1) Notwithstanding any department policy or rule to the contrary, a
55	55	correctional institution shall not deny the dissemination or availability of printed
56	56	materials from book venders to state inmates housed in such institutions except
57	57	as authorized in subsection (c).
58	58	(2) A state inmate who is adversely affected by a decision of the
59	59	department pursuant to this section may petition the department for a hearing to
60	60	be held in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled
61	61	in title 4, chapter 5, part 3.
62	62	(c) Incoming printed materials may be determined by the department to be a
63	63	threat to the security of the correctional institution and returned to the sender if the
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65	65
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68	68	institution can establish by clear and convincing evidence that the dissemination or
69	69	availability of such materials to state inmates could:
70	70	(1) Be an attempt to incite violence based on race, religion, sex, creed, or
71	71	nationality;
72	72	(2) Advocate, facilitate, or otherwise present a risk of lawlessness,
73	73	violence, anarchy, or rebellion against government authority, institution staff, or
74	74	other inmates;
75	75	(3) Be an attempt to incite disobedience toward law enforcement officials
76	76	or institution staff;
77	77	(4) Be an attempt to give instructions for the manufacturing or use of
78	78	intoxicants, weapons, explosives, drugs, drug paraphernalia, other unlawful
79	79	articles or substances, or other items deemed as contraband;
80	80	(5) Contain plans to escape, unauthorized entry into the institution, or
81	81	information or maps which might aid an escape attempt by an inmate;
82	82	(6) Contain information relating to security threat group activity or use of
83	83	codes or symbols associated with security threat groups; or
84	84	(7) Be sexually explicit material or material that features nudity, which by
85	85	its nature or content poses a threat to the security, good order, or discipline of the
86	86	institution, or facilitates criminal activity.
87	87	SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.