---
type: "Bill"
title: "Mental Illness - As enacted, requires the department of finance and administration, in consultation with the department of mental health and substance abuse services and the division of TennCare, to develop and administer a grant program to assist sheriffs who are required by law to transport persons who have been certified by a health care professional for transport to a hospital or treatment resource for a mental health examination to determine whether the person should be involuntarily admitted; authorizes hospitals and treatment resources to conduct a mental health examination to determine whether a person should be involuntarily admitted via telehealth services. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 21; Title 8, Chapter 42; Title 9, Chapter 8; Title 13, Chapter 26; Title 29, Chapter 20; Title 33, Chapter 2; Title 33, Chapter 6; Title 33, Chapter 7; Title 37, Chapter 1; Title 56; Title 63; Title 68 and Title 71."
description: "Mental Illness - As enacted, requires the department of finance and administration, in consultation with the department of mental health and substance abuse services and the division of TennCare, to develop and administer a grant program to assist sheriffs who are required by law to transport persons who have been certified by a health care professional for transport to a hospital or treatment resource for a mental health examination to determine whether the person should be involuntarily admitted; authorizes hospitals and treatment resources to conduct a mental health examination to determine whether a person should be involuntarily admitted via telehealth services. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 21; Title 8, Chapter 42; Title 9, Chapter 8; Title 13, Chapter 26; Title 29, Chapter 20; Title 33, Chapter 2; Title 33, Chapter 6; Title 33, Chapter 7; Title 37, Chapter 1; Title 56; Title 63; Title 68 and Title 71."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "111"
identifier: "HB 643"
citation: "Tennessee HB 643 (111)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Mental Illness"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Carter", "Gardenhire"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 49
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2019-02-04"
last_action: "2019-06-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/09c630cd-08c0-43c8-9554-6922254090e7"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0643&GA=111"
source_hash: "2d9129cc025a8a0216fb641e0b1d2e27aa005537173bef20b1fb2969482706c9"
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 643 (111) — Mental Illness - As enacted, requires the department of finance and administration, in consultation with the department of mental health and substance abuse services and the division of TennCare, to develop and administer a grant program to assist sheriffs who are required by law to transport persons who have been certified by a health care professional for transport to a hospital or treatment resource for a mental health examination to determine whether the person should be involuntarily admitted; authorizes hospitals and treatment resources to conduct a mental health examination to determine whether a person should be involuntarily admitted via telehealth services. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 21; Title 8, Chapter 42; Title 9, Chapter 8; Title 13, Chapter 26; Title 29, Chapter 20; Title 33, Chapter 2; Title 33, Chapter 6; Title 33, Chapter 7; Title 37, Chapter 1; Title 56; Title 63; Title 68 and Title 71.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0387** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/HA0387.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0296** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/SA0296.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Bill/HB0643.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/22/2019 4/18/2019 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/22/2019 Passed (1) — **94–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE HEALTH COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee 4/16/2019 (5) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Third Consideration 5/1/2019 Passed (1) — **32–0** (pass) · upper
- SENATE FINANCE, WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 4/30/2019 Passed (2) — **10–0** (pass) · upper
- SENATE HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0 4/10/2019 Passed (3) — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE FINANCE, WAYS, AND MEANS SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee 4/17/2019 (4) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE FINANCE, WAYS, AND MEANS COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 4/17/2019 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE MENTAL HEALTH & SUBSTANCE ABUSE SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Health Committee 4/3/2019 (6) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Carter — primary (person)
- Gardenhire — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-02-04** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-02-05** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-02-06** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2019-02-06** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2019-02-07** P2C, ref. to Health Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-07** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Health and Welfare Committee
- **2019-02-11** Assigned to s/c Mental Health & Substance Abuse Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-06** Placed on s/c cal Mental Health & Substance Abuse Subcommittee for 3/13/2019
- **2019-03-13** Taken off notice for cal in s/c Mental Health & Substance Abuse Subcommittee of Health Committee
- **2019-03-27** Placed on s/c cal Mental Health & Substance Abuse Subcommittee for 4/3/2019
- **2019-04-03** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Health Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-04-04** Placed on Senate Health and Welfare Committee calendar for 4/10/2019
- **2019-04-10** Placed on cal. Health Committee for 4/16/2019
- **2019-04-10** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2019-04-16** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/17/2019
- **2019-04-16** Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2019-04-16** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-17** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/18/2019
- **2019-04-17** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-17** Placed on cal. Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for 4/17/2019
- **2019-04-17** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-18** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/22/2019
- **2019-04-18** Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/23/2019
- **2019-04-22** Passed H., as am., Ayes 94, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2019-04-22** H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0387) `amendment-passage`
- **2019-04-23** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.
- **2019-04-23** Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/24/2019
- **2019-04-23** Action deferred in Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee to 4/24/2019
- **2019-04-24** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2019-04-24** Action deferred in Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee to 4/25/2019
- **2019-04-25** Action deferred in Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee to 4/29/2019
- **2019-04-25** Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/25/2019
- **2019-04-29** Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/30/2019
- **2019-04-29** Action deferred in Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee to 4/30/2019
- **2019-04-29** Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/29/2019
- **2019-04-30** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 5/1/2019
- **2019-04-30** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2019-05-01** Passed Senate, Ayes 32, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2019-05-01** Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0296)
- **2019-05-01** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.
- **2019-05-01** Companion House Bill substituted
- **2019-05-08** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.
- **2019-05-10** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2019-05-17** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2019-05-23** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2019-06-03** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-06-06** Pub. Ch. 512
- **2019-06-06** Effective date(s) 07/01/2019
- **2019-06-06** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 512

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/09c630cd-08c0-43c8-9554-6922254090e7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).