---
type: "Bill"
title: "Criminal Procedure - As enacted, enacts the \"Sergeant Daniel Baker Act,\" which removes the appeal to the court of criminal appeals in death penalty cases; provides for automatic direct review by the Tennessee supreme court for convictions for which a sentence of death is imposed. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 13, Part 2 and Title 40, Chapter 35."
description: "Criminal Procedure - As enacted, enacts the \"Sergeant Daniel Baker Act,\" which removes the appeal to the court of criminal appeals in death penalty cases; provides for automatic direct review by the Tennessee supreme court for convictions for which a sentence of death is imposed. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 13, Part 2 and Title 40, Chapter 35."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "111"
identifier: "HB 258"
citation: "Tennessee HB 258 (111)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Criminal Procedure"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Littleton", "Stevens"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 48
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2019-01-29"
last_action: "2019-04-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8fba3c08-f274-4097-9aa7-c7ebe5ff9876"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0258&GA=111"
source_hash: "1af6554ea9e83375460cd6a9b8eb27f00f75abecc43c7d002710a075fb40ad28"
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 HB 258 (111) — Criminal Procedure - As enacted, enacts the "Sergeant Daniel Baker Act," which removes the appeal to the court of criminal appeals in death penalty cases; provides for automatic direct review by the Tennessee supreme court for convictions for which a sentence of death is imposed. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 13, Part 2 and Title 40, Chapter 35.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment SA0068** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/SA0068.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0069** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/SA0069.pdf)
3. **Amendment SA0073** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/SA0073.pdf)
4. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Bill/HB0258.pdf)

## Votes

- FLOOR VOTE: Third Consideration 3/21/2019 Passed (1) — **27–6** (pass) · upper
- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 2/26/2019 Passed (2) — **6–3** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/18/2019 Passed (1) — **73–22** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS & SENTENCING SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Judiciary 2/20/2019 (6) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee 2/27/2019 (5) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE FINANCE, WAYS, AND MEANS SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee 3/6/2019 (4) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/18/2019 3/14/2019 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- HOUSE FINANCE, WAYS, AND MEANS COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/12/2019 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Littleton — primary (person)
- Stevens — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-29** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-01-30** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2019-01-31** P2C, ref. to Judiciary-- Government Operations for Review `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-31** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-02-01** Assigned to s/c Constitutional Protections & Sentencing Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-04** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2019-02-06** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 2/12/2019
- **2019-02-06** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2019-02-12** Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 2/19/2019
- **2019-02-13** Placed on s/c cal Constitutional Protections & Sentencing Subcommittee for 2/20/2019
- **2019-02-13** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 2/19/2019
- **2019-02-19** Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 2/26/2019
- **2019-02-20** Placed on cal. Judiciary for 2/27/2019
- **2019-02-20** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-02-20** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 2/26/2019
- **2019-02-26** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2019-02-27** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 3/6/2019
- **2019-02-27** Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-27** Rec. for pass; ref to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-01** Placed on Senate Floor Session calendar for 3/4/2019
- **2019-03-04** Senate Reset on calendar for 3/7/2019
- **2019-03-05** Placed on Senate Floor Session calendar for 3/7/2019
- **2019-03-06** Placed on cal. Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for 3/12/2019
- **2019-03-06** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-07** Senate Reset on calendar for 3/14/2019
- **2019-03-12** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-12** Placed on Senate Floor Session calendar for 3/14/2019
- **2019-03-13** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/14/2019
- **2019-03-14** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/18/2019
- **2019-03-14** Senate Reset on calendar for 3/21/2019
- **2019-03-18** Passed H., Ayes 73, Nays 22, PNV 2 `passage`
- **2019-03-19** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.
- **2019-03-19** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/21/2019
- **2019-03-21** Passed Senate, Ayes 27, Nays 6 `passage`
- **2019-03-21** Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0068)
- **2019-03-21** Amendment tabled (Amendment 3 - SA0073) `amendment-deferral`
- **2019-03-21** Amendment tabled (Amendment 2 - SA0069) `amendment-deferral`
- **2019-03-21** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.
- **2019-03-21** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2019-03-21** Companion House Bill substituted
- **2019-03-22** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.
- **2019-03-25** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2019-03-28** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2019-04-01** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2019-04-09** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-04-15** Pub. Ch. 140
- **2019-04-15** Effective date(s) 07/01/2019
- **2019-04-15** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 140

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8fba3c08-f274-4097-9aa7-c7ebe5ff9876`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).