---
type: "Bill"
title: "Teachers, Principals and School Personnel - As enacted, authorizes a school counselor to refer or help facilitate a referral of a parent or legal guardian's student to a counselor or therapist for mental health assessments or services. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 49 and Title 63."
description: "Teachers, Principals and School Personnel - As enacted, authorizes a school counselor to refer or help facilitate a referral of a parent or legal guardian's student to a counselor or therapist for mental health assessments or services. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 49 and Title 63."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "110"
identifier: "HB 720"
citation: "Tennessee HB 720 (110)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Teachers", "Principals and School Personnel"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Niceley", "Parkinson"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 33
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2017-02-02"
last_action: "2017-04-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1108eb3f-8eaa-449a-9a71-a40e7bd3362a"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0720&GA=110"
source_hash: "002da7cc401ce3602cbc34f7d612eb98fa5cfb9b356424d46ab50ce98eacf91c"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tn"]
---

# Tennessee HB 720 (110) — Teachers, Principals and School Personnel - As enacted, authorizes a school counselor to refer or help facilitate a referral of a parent or legal guardian's student to a counselor or therapist for mental health assessments or services. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 49 and Title 63.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/110/Bill/HB0720.pdf)

## Votes

- EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION & PLANNING: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/7/2017 (2) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/13/2017 3/9/2017 (1) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION & PLANNING SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Education Administration & Planning 2/28/2017 (3) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Niceley — primary (person)
- Parkinson — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-02-02** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2017-02-06** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2017-02-08** Filed for intro. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2017-02-08** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee
- **2017-02-09** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2017-02-13** P2C, ref. to Education Administration & Planning `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-14** Assigned to s/c Education Administration & Planning Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-22** Placed on s/c cal Education Administration & Planning Subcommittee for 2/28/2017
- **2017-02-22** Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/1/2017
- **2017-02-28** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Education Administration & Planning `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-01** Placed on cal. Education Administration & Planning for 3/7/2017
- **2017-03-01** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2017-03-03** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar calendar for 3/6/2017
- **2017-03-06** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2017-03-06** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 33, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2017-03-06** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0061)
- **2017-03-07** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-03-08** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/9/2017
- **2017-03-09** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/13/2017
- **2017-03-09** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2017-03-13** Comp. SB subst.
- **2017-03-13** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2017-03-13** Passed H., Ayes 92, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2017-03-13** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0055) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2017-03-13** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2017-03-14** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2017-03-20** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2017-03-20** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2017-03-21** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2017-03-24** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2017-04-04** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 18
- **2017-04-04** Pub. Ch. 18
- **2017-04-04** Effective date(s) 07/01/2017

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1108eb3f-8eaa-449a-9a71-a40e7bd3362a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).