---
type: "Bill"
title: "Witnesses - As enacted, requires the department of correction to advance or reimburse witness expenses necessary to the prosecution of certain criminal cases; requires the county to seek to recover from a convicted defendant who is declared not to be indigent, the costs of the advance or reimbursement of witness expenses made by the department of correction. - Amends TCA Section 40-25-129."
description: "Witnesses - As enacted, requires the department of correction to advance or reimburse witness expenses necessary to the prosecution of certain criminal cases; requires the county to seek to recover from a convicted defendant who is declared not to be indigent, the costs of the advance or reimbursement of witness expenses made by the department of correction. - Amends TCA Section 40-25-129."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "113"
identifier: "SB 476"
citation: "Tennessee SB 476 (113)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Witnesses"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Stevens"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 21
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2023-01-25"
last_action: "2023-04-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2ddb0411-9548-446a-ad7a-189f59b4b6ea"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0476&GA=113"
source_hash: "838874aa5235bd2af8da94a4171e962b223ad7c70386405c37969c42fff54373"
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 476 (113) — Witnesses - As enacted, requires the department of correction to advance or reimburse witness expenses necessary to the prosecution of certain criminal cases; requires the county to seek to recover from a convicted defendant who is declared not to be indigent, the costs of the advance or reimbursement of witness expenses made by the department of correction. - Amends TCA Section 40-25-129.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0144** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/113/Amend/HA0144.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0156** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/113/Amend/SA0156.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/113/Bill/SB0476.pdf)

## Votes

- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/23/2023 Passed (1) — **96–0** (pass) · lower
- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0 3/13/2023 Passed (2) — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 3/20/2023 Passed (1) — **31–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Stevens — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-25** Sponsor change. `sponsorship`
- **2023-01-25** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2023-01-26** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2023-01-30** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee `passage`
- **2023-03-07** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/13/2023
- **2023-03-13** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2023-03-16** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/20/2023
- **2023-03-20** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 31, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2023-03-20** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0156)
- **2023-03-21** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House `receipt`
- **2023-03-23** Passed H., Ayes 96, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2023-03-23** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0144) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2023-03-23** Subst. for comp. HB. `substitution`
- **2023-03-23** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2023-03-24** Enrolled and ready for signatures `enrolled`
- **2023-03-29** Signed by Senate Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-04** Transmitted to Governor for action. `executive-receipt`
- **2023-04-04** Signed by H. Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-13** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-18** Effective date(s) 04/13/2023
- **2023-04-18** Pub. Ch. 147

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/2ddb0411-9548-446a-ad7a-189f59b4b6ea`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).