Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee Senate Bill SB0140 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1
2		-	HOUSE BILL 384
3		-	By Butler
	2	+	<BillNo> <Sponsor>
4	3
5	4		SENATE BILL 140
6	5		By Lowe
7	6
8	7
9	8		SB0140
10	9		001441
11	10		- 1 -
12	11
13	12		AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2;
14	13		Title 6; Title 7; Title 8 and Title 49, relative to recall
15	14		of elected officials.
16	15
17	16		BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
18	17		SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8, Chapter 47, is amended by adding
19	18		the following as a new part:
20	19		8-47-201. As used in this chapter:
21	20		(1) "District" means a district from which a public officer is elected; and
22	21		(2) "Public officer" means a member of a municipal legislative body or a city or
23	22		county school board.
24	23		8-47-202.
25	24		(a) A public officer is subject to recall from office under this chapter.
26	25		(b) A public officer may be recalled by the qualified electors entitled to vote in the
27	26		district from which the officer was elected.
28	27		(c)
29	28		(1) A public officer may be recalled only for the following reasons:
30	29		(A) Physical or mental lack of fitness;
31	30		(B) Incompetence;
32	31		(C) A violation of the oath of office;
33	32		(D) Official misconduct;
34	33		(E) Lack of confidence;
35	34		(F) Malfeasance;
36	35		(G) Neglect of duty;
37	36
38	37
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40	39
41	40		(H) Voter dissatisfaction; or
42	41		(I) Conviction of a felony offense.
43	42		(2) A person must not be recalled for performing a mandatory duty of the
44	43		office that the person holds or for not performing an act that, if performed, would
45	44		subject the person to prosecution for official misconduct.
46	45		8-47-203. The recall process established under this chapter is cumulative and additional
47	46		to, rather than a substitute for, other methods for removal of public officers.
48	47		8-47-204.
49	48		(a) A person who is a qualified elector of a district in this state from which a
50	49		public officer is elected may sign a petition for recall of the public officer.
51	50		(b)
52	51		(1) A person commits an offense who:
53	52		(A) Knowingly signs a name other than the person's own to a
54	53		petition;
55	54		(B) Knowingly signs a petition more than once for the recall;
56	55		(C) Signs the petition knowing that the person is not at the time of
57	56		the signing a qualified elector; or
58	57		(D) Knowingly makes a false entry upon an affidavit required in
59	58		connection with the filing of a petition for the recall of a nonpartisan public
60	59		officer.
61	60		(2) A violation under subdivision (b)(1) is a Class C misdemeanor.
62	61		8-47-205.
63	62		(a) A recall petition must not name more than one (1) public officer to be
64	63		recalled.
65	64
66	65
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68	67
69	68		(b) A recall petition against a public officer must not be approved for circulation,
70	69		as required in § 8-47-209(c), until a public officer has held office for at least two (2)
71	70		months.
72	71		(c) A recall petition must not be filed against a public officer for whom a recall
73	72		election has been held for a period of two (2) years during the officer's term of office
74	73		unless the political subdivision financing the recall election is first reimbursed for all
75	74		expenses of the preceding recall election.
76	75		8-47-206.
77	76		Recall petitions for public officers must contain the signatures of qualified
78	77		electors equaling at least twenty percent (20%) of the number of persons registered to
79	78		vote at the preceding general election in the district for which the public officer was
80	79		elected.
81	80		8-47-207.
82	81		(a) Recall petitions for public officers must be filed with the county election
83	82		commission that serves the district in which the public officer serves and the secretary of
84	83		state.
85	84		(b) If the county election commission or secretary of state refuses to accept and
86	85		file a petition for recall with the proper number of signatures of qualified electors, an
87	86		elector may, within ten (10) days after such refusal, apply to the district court for a writ of
88	87		mandamus. If it is determined that the petition is sufficient, the district court shall order
89	88		the petition to be filed with a certified copy of the writ attached thereto, as of the date
90	89		when it was originally offered for filing. On a showing that any filed petition is not
91	90		sufficient, the court may enjoin certification of the recall election.
92	91		(c) All such suits or appeals therefrom must be advanced on the court docket
93	92		and heard and decided by the court as expeditiously as possible.
94	93
95	94
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97	96
98	97		(d) An aggrieved party may file an appeal within ten (10) days after an adverse
99	98		order or decision as provided by law.
100	99		8-47-208.
101	100		(a) The form of the recall petition must be substantially as follows:
102	101		WARNING
103	102		A person who knowingly signs a name other than the person's own to this
104	103		petition, who signs the person's name more than once upon a petition to recall
105	104		the same officer at one (1) election, or who is not at the time of signing this
106	105		petition qualified to sign this petition under law, is guilty of a Class C
107	106		misdemeanor.
108	107		RECALL PETITION
109	108		To the Honorable ............, Secretary of State of the State of Tennessee,
110	109		and the county election commission for ……….. County: We, the undersigned
111	110		qualified electors of the State of Tennessee in the ……….. (name of appropriate
112	111		district) respectfully petition that an election be held as provided by law on the
113	112		question of whether ..............., holding the office of ..............., should be recalled
114	113		for the following reasons: (Setting out a general statement of the reasons for
115	114		recall in not more than two hundred (200) words). Each signer certifies: I have
116	115		personally signed this petition; I am a qualified elector of the State of Tennessee
117	116		and of the ………. (name of appropriate district); and my residential and post
118	117		office address are correctly written after my name to the best of my knowledge
119	118		and belief.
120	119		(b) Numbered lines must follow the language in subsection (a). Each numbered
121	120		line must contain spaces for the signature, residential address, post office address, and
122	121
123	122
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125	124
126	125		printed last name of the signer. Each separate sheet of the petition must contain the
127	126		heading and reasons for the proposed recall as prescribed in subsection (a).
128	127		8-47-209.
129	128		(a) The signatures on each petition must be placed on sheets of paper known as
130	129		circulation sheets. Each circulation sheet must be substantially eight and one-half by
131	130		fourteen inches (8 1/2" x 14"), or a continuous sheet may be folded so as to meet this
132	131		size limitation. The circulation sheets must be ruled with a horizontal line one and one-
133	132		half inches (1 1/2") from the top of the sheet. The space above the line must remain
134	133		blank and must be for the purpose of binding.
135	134		(b) The petition, for purposes of circulation, may be divided into sections, each
136	135		section to contain not more than twenty-five (25) circulation sheets.
137	136		(c) Before a petition may be circulated for signatures, a sample circulation sheet
138	137		must be submitted to the appropriate county election commission and the secretary of
139	138		state in the form in which it will be circulated. The commission and the secretary of state
140	139		shall review the petition for sufficiency as to form and approve or reject the form of the
141	140		petition, stating the reasons for rejection, within one (1) week of receiving the sheet.
142	141		(d) The petition form submitted must be accompanied by a written statement
143	142		containing the reasons for the desired recall as stated on the petition. The truth of
144	143		purported facts contained in the statement must be sworn to by at least one (1) of the
145	144		petitioners before a person authorized to administer oaths.
146	145		(e) The county election commission and the secretary of state shall serially
147	146		number all approved petitions continuously from year to year.
148	147		8-47-210.
149	148		The forms prescribed in this part are not mandatory, and if substantially followed,
150	149		the petition is sufficient, notwithstanding clerical and merely technical errors.
151	150
152	151
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154	153
155	154		8-47-211.
156	155		(a) Signed circulation sheets or sections of a petition for recall must be
157	156		submitted to the county election commission in the county in which the signatures were
158	157		obtained and to the secretary of state within three (3) months of the date the form of the
159	158		petition was approved under § 8-47-209(c).
160	159		(b) An affidavit, in substantially the following form, must be attached to each
161	160		circulation sheet or section submitted under subsection (a):
162	161		(Name of person circulating petition), being first sworn, deposes and
163	162		says: I circulated or assisted in circulating the petition to which this affidavit is
164	163		attached, and I believe that the signatures on the petition are genuine and are
165	164		the signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be and that the
166	165		signers knew the contents of the petition before signing the petition.
167	166		.................. (Signature)
168	167		Subscribed and sworn before me this .... day of ...., 20...
169	168		............ (Person authorized to take oaths)
170	169		Seal ................ (Title or notarial information)
171	170		8-47-212.
172	171		(a) The county election commission in each county in which a recall petition is
173	172		signed shall verify and compare the signatures of each person who has signed the
174	173		petition to ensure that the person is an elector in that county and, if satisfied that the
175	174		signatures are genuine, shall certify that fact to the secretary of state, in substantially the
176	175		following form:
177	176		To the Honorable ............, Secretary of State of the State of Tennessee:
178	177		I, ............, .............. (title) of ............ County, certify that I have compared the
179	178		signatures on ...... sheets (specifying number of sheets) of the petition for recall
180	179
181	180
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183	182
184	183		No. ...... (assigned serial number of petition) attached, in the manner prescribed
185	184		by law, and I believe ...... (number) signatures are valid for the purpose of the
186	185		petition. I further certify that the affidavit of the circulator of the ….. (sheet) …..
187	186		(section) of the petition is attached and that the residential and post office
188	187		address is completed for each valid signature.
189	188		Signed: ...... (Signature) (Date) ........
190	189		Seal............(Title)
191	190		(b) The certificate is prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the certificate,
192	191		and the secretary of state or county election commission receiving the recall petition may
193	192		consider and count only the signatures that are certified.
194	193		8-47-213.
195	194		Upon certification of a petition under this chapter, the secretary of state shall
196	195		immediately give written notice to the public officer named in the petition. The notice
197	196		must state that a recall petition has been filed and certified, must set forth the reasons
198	197		contained in the petition, and must notify the public officer that the officer has the right to
199	198		prepare and have printed on the ballot a statement containing not more than two
200	199		hundred (200) words giving reasons why the officer should not be recalled. A statement
201	200		of justification must not be printed on the ballot unless it is delivered to the secretary of
202	201		state within ten (10) days of the date notice is given.
203	202		8-47-214.
204	203		(a) If the public officer named in the petition for recall submits a resignation in
205	204		writing, it must be accepted and become effective seventy-two (72) hours after it is
206	205		offered. The vacancy created by the resignation must be filled as provided by law.
207	206		However, the public officer named in the petition for recall must not be appointed to fill
208	207		the vacancy.
209	208
210	209
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212	211
213	212		(b) If the public officer named in the petition for recall refuses to resign or does
214	213		not resign within five (5) days after receiving notice of the certified petition, an election
215	214		must be held. If the recall petition was certified more than sixty (60) days before a
216	215		general or primary election, the recall election must be held at the same time as the
217	216		general or primary election. If the recall petition was certified less than sixty (60) days
218	217		before a general or primary election, the recall election must be held at the next
219	218		succeeding general election.
220	219		8-47-215. The public notice of a recall election, to be filed in accordance with § 2-14-
221	220		105, must be in substantially the following form:
222	221		NOTICE OF RECALL ELECTIO N
223	222		Notice is hereby given pursuant to law that a recall election will be held on
224	223		.......... (Date) for the purpose of voting upon the recall of ............, who holds the
225	224		office of ..........
226	225		DATED at .........., .......... (Date)
227	226		8-47-216.
228	227		(a) The ballot at a recall election must set forth the statement contained in the
229	228		recall petition stating the reasons for demanding the recall of the public officer and the
230	229		public officer's statement of reasons why the officer should not be recalled. The
231	230		question of whether the officer should be recalled must be placed on the ballot in a form
232	231		similar to the following:
233	232		☐ FOR recalling ......., who holds the office of ........
234	233		☐ AGAINST recalling ......., who holds the office of ........
235	234		(b) The form of the ballot must be approved as provided in the election laws of
236	235		this state.
237	236		8-47-217.
238	237
239	238
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241	240
242	241		Expenses of a recall election must be paid in the same manner as the expenses
243	242		for any other election. The expenditure of such funds constitutes an emergency
244	243		expenditure of funds, and a political subdivision affected may fund the costs of such an
245	244		election through emergency funding procedures.
246	245		8-47-218.
247	246		The public officer named in the recall petition continues in office until the officer
248	247		resigns or the results of the recall election are officially declared. If a majority of those
249	248		voting on the question vote to remove the officer, the office becomes vacant and the
250	249		vacancy must be filled as provided by law. However, the public officer recalled must not
251	250		be appointed to fill the vacancy.
252	251		SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-2-213, is amended by deleting the
253	252		section.
254	253		SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.