---
type: "Bill"
title: "Public Defenders - As enacted, changes employee title from assistant executive director to deputy executive director; allows attorneys in the office of executive director a reasonable length of time to conclude or transfer private legal matters pending at the time of employment. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 14 and Title 9, Chapter 4."
description: "Public Defenders - As enacted, changes employee title from assistant executive director to deputy executive director; allows attorneys in the office of executive director a reasonable length of time to conclude or transfer private legal matters pending at the time of employment. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 14 and Title 9, Chapter 4."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "111"
identifier: "SB 294"
citation: "Tennessee SB 294 (111)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Public Defenders"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Akbari", "Farmer"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 31
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2019-01-30"
last_action: "2019-05-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/fe99f263-7d3b-441f-b8f1-d419f4fc3b72"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0294&GA=111"
source_hash: "80e6449521abfd49cc9242efdcc3722b77dd71839aaf98f90e9db4c244a1ed2c"
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 294 (111) — Public Defenders - As enacted, changes employee title from assistant executive director to deputy executive director; allows attorneys in the office of executive director a reasonable length of time to conclude or transfer private legal matters pending at the time of employment. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 14 and Title 9, Chapter 4.

## 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/111/Bill/SB0294.pdf)

## Votes

- FLOOR VOTE: PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/22/2019 Passed (3) — **93–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: CONSENT CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/22/2019 Passed (4) — **93–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/22/2019 Passed (1) — **92–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Consent Calendar for 4/22/2019 4/17/2019 (5) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt 4/8/2019 Passed — **31–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Judiciary 4/3/2019 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 4/10/2019 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: CONSENT CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/22/2019 Passed (2) — **92–0** (pass) · lower
- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 4/2/2019 Passed — **9–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Akbari — primary (person)
- Farmer — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-30** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-01-31** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2019-02-04** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2019-02-06** Intro. `introduction`
- **2019-02-06** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-02-07** P1C.
- **2019-02-11** P2C, ref. to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-13** Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-27** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/2/2019
- **2019-03-27** Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 4/3/2019
- **2019-04-02** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2019-04-03** Placed on cal. Judiciary for 4/10/2019
- **2019-04-03** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-04** Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 4/8/2019
- **2019-04-08** Passed Senate, Ayes 31, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2019-04-09** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2019-04-10** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2019-04-10** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-16** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/17/2019
- **2019-04-17** H. Placed on Consent Calendar for 4/22/2019
- **2019-04-22** Passed H., Ayes 93, Nays 0, PNV 1 `passage`
- **2019-04-22** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2019-04-22** Comp. SB subst.
- **2019-04-24** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2019-04-25** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2019-04-29** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2019-04-30** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2019-05-08** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-13** Pub. Ch. 302
- **2019-05-13** Effective date(s) 07/01/2019
- **2019-05-13** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 302

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/fe99f263-7d3b-441f-b8f1-d419f4fc3b72`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).