---
type: "Bill"
title: "Civil Procedure - As enacted, enacts the \"Tennessee Public Participation Act,\" which creates a process by which a person may petition a court to dismiss a legal action that is based on the person's exercise of the right to free speech, right to petition, or right of association. - Amends TCA Title 20."
description: "Civil Procedure - As enacted, enacts the \"Tennessee Public Participation Act,\" which creates a process by which a person may petition a court to dismiss a legal action that is based on the person's exercise of the right to free speech, right to petition, or right of association. - Amends TCA Title 20."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "111"
identifier: "SB 1097"
citation: "Tennessee SB 1097 (111)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Civil Procedure"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Dickerson", "Ramsey"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 30
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2019-02-05"
last_action: "2019-05-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0c8434d9-76ea-408a-ba54-537a59adf910"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1097&GA=111"
source_hash: "05a75ec97bcd9e6ed0efc61d5cf5dd7013c8d6f11514c342cddf0bbf6a1d83ed"
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 1097 (111) — Civil Procedure - As enacted, enacts the "Tennessee Public Participation Act," which creates a process by which a person may petition a court to dismiss a legal action that is based on the person's exercise of the right to free speech, right to petition, or right of association. - Amends TCA Title 20.

## 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/111/Bill/SB1097.pdf)

## Votes

- FLOOR VOTE: Third Consideration 3/18/2019 Passed (1) — **33–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS & SENTENCING SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Judiciary 3/20/2019 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/8/2019 4/4/2019 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/8/2019 Passed (1) — **92–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/27/2019 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 3/12/2019 Passed (2) — **7–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Dickerson — primary (person)
- Ramsey — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-02-05** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-02-06** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-02-06** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2019-02-07** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2019-02-07** P2C, ref. to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-11** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2019-02-11** Assigned to s/c Constitutional Protections & Sentencing Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-06** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/12/2019
- **2019-03-12** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2019-03-13** Placed on s/c cal Constitutional Protections & Sentencing Subcommittee for 3/20/2019
- **2019-03-15** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/18/2019
- **2019-03-18** Passed Senate, Ayes 33, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2019-03-19** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2019-03-20** Placed on cal. Judiciary for 3/27/2019
- **2019-03-20** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-21** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2019-03-27** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-03** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/4/2019
- **2019-04-04** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/8/2019
- **2019-04-08** Passed H., Ayes 92, Nays 0, PNV 2 `passage`
- **2019-04-08** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2019-04-08** Comp. SB subst.
- **2019-04-09** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2019-04-10** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2019-04-15** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2019-04-16** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2019-04-23** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-01** Pub. Ch. 185
- **2019-05-01** Effective date(s) 07/01/2019
- **2019-05-01** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 185

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0c8434d9-76ea-408a-ba54-537a59adf910`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).