---
type: "Bill"
title: "Jails, Local Lock-ups - As enacted, establishes that a contracted licensed healthcare provider who certifies that a person is free from an impairment to authorize the person to work in a jail is not an agent of the municipality, county, or political subdivision; establishes that a municipality, county, or political subdivision's good faith reliance of the jailer qualification requirements does not give rise to a cause of action. - Amends TCA Section 41-4-144."
description: "Jails, Local Lock-ups - As enacted, establishes that a contracted licensed healthcare provider who certifies that a person is free from an impairment to authorize the person to work in a jail is not an agent of the municipality, county, or political subdivision; establishes that a municipality, county, or political subdivision's good faith reliance of the jailer qualification requirements does not give rise to a cause of action. - Amends TCA Section 41-4-144."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "SB 972"
citation: "Tennessee SB 972 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Jails", "Local Loc"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Hakeem", "Watson"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 36
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2021-02-10"
last_action: "2021-05-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/11673e9b-8d7a-43c7-acd3-25d7fca9a784"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0972&GA=112"
source_hash: "7c1213e1213629439e2d56b511712b5090cfd38b471348a01fb32ed7f1e487ff"
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 972 (112) — Jails, Local Lock-ups - As enacted, establishes that a contracted licensed healthcare provider who certifies that a person is free from an impairment to authorize the person to work in a jail is not an agent of the municipality, county, or political subdivision; establishes that a municipality, county, or political subdivision's good faith reliance of the jailer qualification requirements does not give rise to a cause of action. - Amends TCA Section 41-4-144.

## 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/SB0972.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE CITIES SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Local Government Committee 4/6/2021 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/28/2021 Passed (1) — **95–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt 4/19/2021 Passed (1) — **32–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/28/2021 4/22/2021 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- SENATE STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 4/13/2021 Passed (2) — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 4/13/2021 — **0–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Hakeem — primary (person)
- Watson — 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 Cities & Counties Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-24** P2C, ref. to Local Government Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-10** Placed on s/c cal Cities & Counties Subcommittee for 3/16/2021
- **2021-03-16** Action Def. in s/c Cities & Counties Subcommittee to 3/23/2021
- **2021-03-17** Placed on s/c cal Cities & Counties Subcommittee for 3/23/2021
- **2021-03-17** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-23** Taken off notice for cal in s/c Cities & Counties Subcommittee of Local Government Committee
- **2021-03-31** Placed on s/c cal Cities & Counties Subcommittee for 4/6/2021
- **2021-04-06** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Local Government Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-07** Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 4/13/2021
- **2021-04-07** Placed on cal. Local Government Committee for 4/13/2021
- **2021-04-13** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2021-04-13** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-16** Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 4/19/2021
- **2021-04-19** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2021-04-19** Passed Senate, Ayes 32, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2021-04-21** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2021-04-21** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/22/2021
- **2021-04-22** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/28/2021
- **2021-04-28** Passed H., Ayes 95, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2021-04-28** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2021-04-28** Comp. SB subst.
- **2021-04-28** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-04-30** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2021-05-03** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2021-05-04** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2021-05-04** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2021-05-11** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-05-18** Effective date(s) 05/11/2021
- **2021-05-18** Pub. Ch. 359
- **2021-05-18** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 359

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/11673e9b-8d7a-43c7-acd3-25d7fca9a784`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).