---
type: "Bill"
title: "Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) - As enacted, prohibits the state, a political subdivision, or a public official from prohibiting or imposing additional restrictions on the lawful operations of a church or religious organization during a state of emergency, major disaster, or natural disaster; restricts a county health officer from issuing an order closing or limiting the operations of a church or religious organization for purposes of worship services. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 8; Title 58 and Title 68."
description: "Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) - As enacted, prohibits the state, a political subdivision, or a public official from prohibiting or imposing additional restrictions on the lawful operations of a church or religious organization during a state of emergency, major disaster, or natural disaster; restricts a county health officer from issuing an order closing or limiting the operations of a church or religious organization for purposes of worship services. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 8; Title 58 and Title 68."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "SB 1197"
citation: "Tennessee SB 1197 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bowling", "Grills"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 52
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2021-02-10"
last_action: "2022-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5af9b651-d962-47cb-817b-47ee9128a548"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1197&GA=112"
source_hash: "ce71ae1dee4e27965d6a0efd486bfcb8f5ba781b3ab487d1cfbb8ad92db3618a"
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 1197 (112) — Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) - As enacted, prohibits the state, a political subdivision, or a public official from prohibiting or imposing additional restrictions on the lawful operations of a church or religious organization during a state of emergency, major disaster, or natural disaster; restricts a county health officer from issuing an order closing or limiting the operations of a church or religious organization for purposes of worship services. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 8; Title 58 and Title 68.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0083** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/HA0083.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0214** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/SA0214.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Bill/SB1197.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE CIVIL JUSTICE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/17/2021 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/29/2021 3/25/2021 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- SENATE STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Health and Welfare Committee Ayes 5, Nays 2 PNV 2 4/13/2021 Passed — **5–2** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: Third Consideration 3/24/2022 Passed — **24–6** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CIVIL JUSTICE SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee 3/9/2021 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/12/2021 Passed (1) — **70–18** (pass) · lower
- SENATE HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 1 PNV 0 3/9/2022 Passed — **8–1** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bowling — primary (person)
- Grills — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-10** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **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 State and Local Government Committee
- **2021-02-22** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2021-02-24** Assigned to s/c Civil Justice Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-24** P2C, ref. to Civil Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-03** Placed on s/c cal Civil Justice Subcommittee for 3/9/2021
- **2021-03-09** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-09** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-10** Placed on cal. Civil Justice Committee for 3/17/2021
- **2021-03-17** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-18** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-24** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/25/2021
- **2021-03-25** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/29/2021
- **2021-03-29** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/5/21
- **2021-03-29** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-29** Reset on cal. for 4/5/2021
- **2021-03-29** H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0083) `amendment-passage`
- **2021-04-05** Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 4/6/2021
- **2021-04-05** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/12/21
- **2021-04-05** Reset on next avail. cal.
- **2021-04-06** Deferred to Summer Study
- **2021-04-07** Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 4/13/2021
- **2021-04-07** Rule #83(8) Suspended, to be heard in S. State & Local Government Comm. 4-13-21
- **2021-04-08** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-04-08** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-04-12** Passed H., as am., Ayes 70, Nays 18, PNV 1 `passage`
- **2021-04-12** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-04-13** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Health and Welfare Committee Ayes 5, Nays 2 PNV 2
- **2021-04-13** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.
- **2021-04-14** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2022-02-16** Placed on Senate Health and Welfare Committee calendar for 2/23/2022
- **2022-02-23** Placed on Senate Health and Welfare Committee calendar for 3/2/2022
- **2022-02-23** Action deferred in Senate Health and Welfare Committee to 3/2/2022
- **2022-03-02** Placed on Senate Health and Welfare Committee calendar for 3/9/2022
- **2022-03-02** Action deferred in Senate Health and Welfare Committee to 3/9/2022
- **2022-03-09** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 1 PNV 0
- **2022-03-22** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/24/2022
- **2022-03-24** Companion House Bill substituted
- **2022-03-24** Passed Senate, Ayes 24, Nays 6 `passage`
- **2022-03-24** Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0214)
- **2022-03-24** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.
- **2022-03-25** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-03-25** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.
- **2022-03-30** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2022-03-30** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2022-03-31** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2022-04-08** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2022-04-13** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 802
- **2022-04-13** Effective date(s) 04/08/2022
- **2022-04-13** Pub. Ch. 802

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5af9b651-d962-47cb-817b-47ee9128a548`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).