---
type: "Bill"
title: "Foster Care - As enacted, requires the department of children's services to provide a copy of a petition to terminate parental rights for a child in the custody of the department to the child's foster parent, if the foster parent has served as the physical placement for the child for a period of nine or more consecutive months; requires the department to provide the required copy within seven days of the filing or being served with the petition. - Amends TCA Section 36-1-113 and Section 37-2-415."
description: "Foster Care - As enacted, requires the department of children's services to provide a copy of a petition to terminate parental rights for a child in the custody of the department to the child's foster parent, if the foster parent has served as the physical placement for the child for a period of nine or more consecutive months; requires the department to provide the required copy within seven days of the filing or being served with the petition. - Amends TCA Section 36-1-113 and Section 37-2-415."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "114"
identifier: "SB 2165"
citation: "Tennessee SB 2165 (114)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Foster Care"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Haile"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 19
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2026-02-02"
last_action: "2026-05-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/78cc7aa2-90c6-4ec7-9682-892cc481499d"
source_url: "https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default?BillNumber=SB2165&ga=114"
source_hash: "b253de31e8451440ec38e7a290c0c1496cacf61991bd2b54a9eca98c283991d9"
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 2165 (114) — Foster Care - As enacted, requires the department of children's services to provide a copy of a petition to terminate parental rights for a child in the custody of the department to the child's foster parent, if the foster parent has served as the physical placement for the child for a period of nine or more consecutive months; requires the department to provide the required copy within seven days of the filing or being served with the petition. - Amends TCA Section 36-1-113 and Section 37-2-415.

## Version chain

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

1. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bill/SB2165.pdf)

## Votes

- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 3/3/2026 Passed (1) — **7–1** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: Third Consideration 3/16/2026 Passed — **27–4** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/6/2026 Passed (1) — **77–16** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Haile — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-02-02** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2026-02-02** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2026-02-05** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-25** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/3/2026
- **2026-03-03** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2026-03-13** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/16/2026
- **2026-03-16** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2026-03-16** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House `receipt`
- **2026-03-16** Passed Senate, Ayes 27, Nays 4 `passage`
- **2026-03-19** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2026-04-06** Passed H., Ayes 77, Nays 16, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2026-04-06** Subst. for comp. HB. `substitution`
- **2026-04-08** Enrolled and ready for signatures `enrolled`
- **2026-04-09** Signed by Senate Speaker `passage`
- **2026-04-14** Signed by H. Speaker `passage`
- **2026-04-15** Transmitted to Governor for action. `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-23** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2026-05-05** Effective date(s) 07/01/2026
- **2026-05-05** Pub. Ch. 802

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/78cc7aa2-90c6-4ec7-9682-892cc481499d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).