---
type: "Bill"
title: "Witnesses - As enacted, prohibits a court from requiring an educator to be a witness in a civil domestic dispute proceeding if the educator's attendance would cause absence from teaching or supervisory duties in a school unless the court determines the educator's attendance is necessary to ensure fairness. - Amends TCA Title 24 and Title 49."
description: "Witnesses - As enacted, prohibits a court from requiring an educator to be a witness in a civil domestic dispute proceeding if the educator's attendance would cause absence from teaching or supervisory duties in a school unless the court determines the educator's attendance is necessary to ensure fairness. - Amends TCA Title 24 and Title 49."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "110"
identifier: "SB 2549"
citation: "Tennessee SB 2549 (110)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Witnesses"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Akbari", "Gardenhire"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 39
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2018-02-01"
last_action: "2018-04-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e8484396-b621-4c43-bc07-e07c2e9d8f8e"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB2549&GA=110"
source_hash: "0fb80d5e0c0832f3af39e8a705b743e55ef1e03c2fdd1d047607bb932bdb4c43"
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 SB 2549 (110) — Witnesses - As enacted, prohibits a court from requiring an educator to be a witness in a civil domestic dispute proceeding if the educator's attendance would cause absence from teaching or supervisory duties in a school unless the court determines the educator's attendance is necessary to ensure fairness. - Amends TCA Title 24 and Title 49.

## 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/SB2549.pdf)

## Votes

- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 3/13/2018 Passed (3) — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt 3/19/2018 PASSED (2) — **32–0** (fail) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/29/2018 PASSED (1) — **84–1** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Concur House Amendment # 1 4/4/2018 PASSED (1) — **30–1** (fail) · upper

## Sponsors

- Akbari — primary (person)
- Gardenhire — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-02-01** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2018-02-01** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2018-02-01** Intro. `introduction`
- **2018-02-01** Filed for intro. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2018-02-05** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2018-02-05** P1C.
- **2018-02-07** Assigned to s/c Civil Justice Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-07** P2C, ref. to Civil Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-27** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-28** Placed on s/c cal Civil Justice Subcommittee for 3/7/2018
- **2018-03-07** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/13/2018
- **2018-03-07** Placed on s/c cal Civil Justice Subcommittee for 3/14/2018
- **2018-03-07** Action Def. in s/c Civil Justice Subcommittee to 3/14/2018
- **2018-03-13** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2018-03-14** Placed on cal. Civil Justice Committee for 3/20/2018
- **2018-03-14** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2018-03-16** Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 calendar for 3/19/2018
- **2018-03-19** Passed Senate, Ayes 32, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2018-03-20** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2018-03-20** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-03-21** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/22/2018
- **2018-03-22** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2018-03-22** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/29/2018
- **2018-03-26** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-03-29** Passed H., as am., Ayes 84, Nays 1, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2018-03-29** H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0951) `amendment-passage`
- **2018-03-29** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2018-03-29** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-03-29** Comp. SB subst.
- **2018-04-02** Placed on Senate Message Calendar calendar for 4/4/2018
- **2018-04-04** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2018-04-04** Concurred, Ayes 30, Nays 1 (Amendment 1 - HA0951) `passage`
- **2018-04-05** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2018-04-05** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2018-04-06** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2018-04-18** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2018-04-23** Pub. Ch. 747
- **2018-04-23** Effective date(s) 04/18/2018
- **2018-04-23** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 747

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e8484396-b621-4c43-bc07-e07c2e9d8f8e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).