---
type: "Bill"
title: "Public Employees - As enacted, enacts the \"Tennessee Public Safety Behavioral Health Act.\" - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 50; Title 58; Title 63 and Title 68."
description: "Public Employees - As enacted, enacts the \"Tennessee Public Safety Behavioral Health Act.\" - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 50; Title 58; Title 63 and Title 68."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "110"
identifier: "SB 1797"
citation: "Tennessee SB 1797 (110)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Public Employees"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ketron", "Whitson"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 80
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2018-01-10"
last_action: "2018-05-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f864d291-308e-4929-9546-638c9a89d419"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1797&GA=110"
source_hash: "6b7f53a658c76f313be01900184299255d5f8aaad8bc571752498da23de8033e"
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 1797 (110) — Public Employees - As enacted, enacts the "Tennessee Public Safety Behavioral Health Act." - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 50; Title 58; Title 63 and Title 68.

## Version chain

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

1. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/110/Bill/SB1797.pdf)

## Votes

- SENATE FINANCE, WAYS, AND MEANS COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 10, Nays 0 PNV 0 4/3/2018 Passed — **10–0** (pass) · upper
- SENATE HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0 2/28/2018 Passed — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/24/2018 PASSED (1) — **91–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 4/19/2018 PASSED (1) — **32–0** (fail) · upper

## Sponsors

- Ketron — primary (person)
- Whitson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-01-10** Filed for intro. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2018-01-11** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2018-01-17** Assigned to s/c Health Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2018-01-17** P2C, ref. to Health Committee `referral-committee`
- **2018-01-24** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2018-01-25** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2018-01-29** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Health and Welfare Committee
- **2018-02-01** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-07** Placed on s/c cal Health Subcommittee for 2/14/2018
- **2018-02-08** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-13** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-13** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-14** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-14** Placed on cal. Health Committee for 2/20/2018
- **2018-02-14** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Health Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-02-15** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-20** Action def. in Health Committee to 2/27/2018
- **2018-02-21** Placed on Senate Health and Welfare Committee calendar for 2/28/2018
- **2018-02-21** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-21** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-21** Placed on cal. Health Committee for 2/27/2018
- **2018-02-22** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-22** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-27** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-27** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-27** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways & Means Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-02-28** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2018-02-28** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 3/7/2018
- **2018-02-28** Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-28** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-03-01** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-03-07** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 3/14/2018
- **2018-03-07** Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee to 3/14/2018
- **2018-03-14** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 3/21/2018
- **2018-03-14** Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee to 3/21/2018
- **2018-03-15** Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 3/20/2018
- **2018-03-20** Action deferred in Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee to 3/27/2018
- **2018-03-21** Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 3/27/2018
- **2018-03-21** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 3/28/2018
- **2018-03-21** Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee to 3/28/2018
- **2018-03-27** Action deferred in Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee to 4/3/2018
- **2018-03-28** Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/3/2018
- **2018-03-28** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 4/3/2018
- **2018-03-28** Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee to 4/4/2018
- **2018-04-03** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 10, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2018-04-03** Placed behind the budget
- **2018-04-04** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 4/13/2018
- **2018-04-11** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 4/18/18
- **2018-04-13** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar calendar for 4/17/2018
- **2018-04-17** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar calendar for 4/18/2018
- **2018-04-17** Senate Reset on calendar 4/18/18
- **2018-04-17** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-04-18** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar calendar for 4/19/2018
- **2018-04-18** Senate Reset on calendar 4/19/18
- **2018-04-18** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/23/2018
- **2018-04-18** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/18/2018
- **2018-04-18** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-04-18** Placed on cal. Finance, Ways & Means Committee for 4/18/2018
- **2018-04-18** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways & Means Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-04-19** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-04-19** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 32, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2018-04-19** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 2 - SA1018)
- **2018-04-19** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0673)
- **2018-04-20** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2018-04-23** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2018-04-23** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-04-24** Passed H., Ayes 91, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2018-04-24** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 2 - HA1272) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2018-04-24** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0727) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2018-04-24** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2018-04-24** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-04-24** Comp. SB subst.
- **2018-04-30** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2018-05-01** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2018-05-08** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2018-05-09** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2018-05-21** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2018-05-23** Pub. Ch. 997
- **2018-05-23** Effective date(s) 07/01/2018
- **2018-05-23** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 997

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f864d291-308e-4929-9546-638c9a89d419`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).