---
type: "Bill"
title: "Open Meetings - As enacted, permits a court to award the reasonable court costs and attorney's fees to a petitioner successfully proving that a governing body knowingly and willfully violated the public meetings laws in this state. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 4, Part 6 and Title 8, Chapter 44, Part 1."
description: "Open Meetings - As enacted, permits a court to award the reasonable court costs and attorney's fees to a petitioner successfully proving that a governing body knowingly and willfully violated the public meetings laws in this state. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 4, Part 6 and Title 8, Chapter 44, Part 1."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "113"
identifier: "SB 1963"
citation: "Tennessee SB 1963 (113)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Open Meetings"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Pody"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 29
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2024-01-24"
last_action: "2024-05-31"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/dc077922-6929-4175-8e0a-a25db2893443"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1963&GA=113"
source_hash: "d7945bac4c787dd6f7a3df13efec66ecd08d17c90c7755a311ceba29fecb0637"
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 1963 (113) — Open Meetings - As enacted, permits a court to award the reasonable court costs and attorney's fees to a petitioner successfully proving that a governing body knowingly and willfully violated the public meetings laws in this state. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 4, Part 6 and Title 8, Chapter 44, Part 1.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0833** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/113/Amend/HA0833.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0965** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/113/Amend/SA0965.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/113/Bill/SB1963.pdf)

## Votes

- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 7, Nays 1 PNV 0 4/2/2024 Passed — **7–1** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 4/17/2024 Passed (1) — **29–2** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/24/2024 Passed (1) — **95–0** (pass) · lower
- SENATE FINANCE, WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 4/10/2024 Passed (2) — **11–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Pody — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-24** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2024-01-25** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2024-01-29** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee `passage`
- **2024-03-06** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/11/2024
- **2024-03-11** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/12/2024
- **2024-03-11** Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 3/12/2024
- **2024-03-12** Reset on Final calendar of Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2024-03-27** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/1/2024
- **2024-04-01** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/2/2024
- **2024-04-01** Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 4/2/2024
- **2024-04-02** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 7, Nays 1 PNV 0
- **2024-04-08** Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/10/2024
- **2024-04-08** Rule #83(8) Suspended, to be heard in Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for 4/10/2024
- **2024-04-10** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2024-04-15** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/17/2024
- **2024-04-17** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House `receipt`
- **2024-04-17** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 29, Nays 2 `passage`
- **2024-04-17** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0965)
- **2024-04-18** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2024-04-24** Passed H., Ayes 95, Nays 0, PNV 1 `passage`
- **2024-04-24** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0833) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2024-04-24** Subst. for comp. HB. `substitution`
- **2024-04-29** Enrolled and ready for signatures `enrolled`
- **2024-05-09** Signed by Senate Speaker `passage`
- **2024-05-15** Signed by H. Speaker `passage`
- **2024-05-16** Transmitted to Governor for action. `executive-receipt`
- **2024-05-28** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2024-05-31** Effective date(s) 05/28/2024
- **2024-05-31** Pub. Ch. 1030

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/dc077922-6929-4175-8e0a-a25db2893443`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).