---
type: "Bill"
title: "Juvenile Offenders - As enacted, permits a child to be detained in a secure facility when there is probable cause to believe the child has committed certain offenses involving burglary, robbery, or theft of a motor vehicle; removes restrictions on the juvenile court's authority to order detention for a child who has committed a delinquent act. - Amends TCA Title 37."
description: "Juvenile Offenders - As enacted, permits a child to be detained in a secure facility when there is probable cause to believe the child has committed certain offenses involving burglary, robbery, or theft of a motor vehicle; removes restrictions on the juvenile court's authority to order detention for a child who has committed a delinquent act. - Amends TCA Title 37."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "HB 478"
citation: "Tennessee HB 478 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Juvenile Offenders"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Lamberth", "White"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 33
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2021-02-03"
last_action: "2021-04-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d4661f45-4b7d-409d-b02d-7940c77f8083"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0478&GA=112"
source_hash: "65076052c597f39d87496f200625f78344eb1138b8afbd1e9628093f8eff876c"
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 478 (112) — Juvenile Offenders - As enacted, permits a child to be detained in a secure facility when there is probable cause to believe the child has committed certain offenses involving burglary, robbery, or theft of a motor vehicle; removes restrictions on the juvenile court's authority to order detention for a child who has committed a delinquent act. - Amends TCA Title 37.

## Version chain

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

1. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Bill/HB0478.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Criminal Justice Committee 3/3/2021 (4) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/25/2021 3/18/2021 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt 3/22/2021 Passed (1) — **30–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/25/2021 Passed (1) — **70–20** (pass) · lower
- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 3/16/2021 Passed (2) — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/10/2021 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Lamberth — primary (person)
- White — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-03** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-08** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2021-02-10** P2C, caption bill, held on desk - pending amdt.
- **2021-02-11** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-02-11** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-22** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2021-02-24** Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/3/2021
- **2021-02-24** Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-24** Ref. to Criminal Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-03** Placed on cal. Criminal Justice Committee for 3/10/2021
- **2021-03-03** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-03** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Criminal Justice Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-10** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-10** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/16/2021
- **2021-03-16** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2021-03-17** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/18/2021
- **2021-03-18** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/25/2021
- **2021-03-18** Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 3/22/2021
- **2021-03-22** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2021-03-22** Passed Senate, Ayes 31, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2021-03-25** Comp. SB subst.
- **2021-03-25** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-25** Passed H., Ayes 70, Nays 20, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2021-03-25** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2021-03-25** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2021-03-26** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2021-03-29** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2021-03-30** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2021-03-30** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2021-04-07** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-04-12** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 105
- **2021-04-12** Effective date(s) 04/07/2021
- **2021-04-12** Pub. Ch. 105

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d4661f45-4b7d-409d-b02d-7940c77f8083`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).