--- type: "Bill" title: "Real Property - As enacted, restricts the width of a private easement or right-of-way to 25 feet; authorizes the court to award attorney fees to the defending landowner in an action for an easement or right-of-way brought by a private person owning land obstructed entirely from a public road by the intervening land of another person; makes various other changes regarding private easements. - Amends TCA Title 29, Chapter 16 and Title 54, Chapter 14." description: "Real Property - As enacted, restricts the width of a private easement or right-of-way to 25 feet; authorizes the court to award attorney fees to the defending landowner in an action for an easement or right-of-way brought by a private person owning land obstructed entirely from a public road by the intervening land of another person; makes various other changes regarding private easements. - Amends TCA Title 29, Chapter 16 and Title 54, Chapter 14." jurisdiction: "us/states/tn" legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly" session: "111" identifier: "SB 1896" citation: "Tennessee SB 1896 (111)" classification: ["bill"] subjects: ["Real Property"] status: "enacted" primary_sponsors: ["Carter", "Gardenhire"] version_count: 3 action_count: 38 vote_count: 6 first_action: "2020-01-27" last_action: "2020-07-02" source: "openstates" source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c9bd2a87-cd9b-442b-9ee0-60c815ba08aa" source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1896&GA=111" source_hash: "6be9511b12daf946b846f0c8f3f2407866fdf03bc44264f3eb02df22d05f1805" 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 1896 (111) — Real Property - As enacted, restricts the width of a private easement or right-of-way to 25 feet; authorizes the court to award attorney fees to the defending landowner in an action for an easement or right-of-way brought by a private person owning land obstructed entirely from a public road by the intervening land of another person; makes various other changes regarding private easements. - Amends TCA Title 29, Chapter 16 and Title 54, Chapter 14. ## Version chain The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment. 1. **Amendment HA0544** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/HA0544.pdf) 2. **Amendment SA0684** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/SA0684.pdf) 3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Bill/SB1896.pdf) ## Votes - FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/2/2020 Passed (1) — **99–0** (pass) · lower - FLOOR VOTE: Third Consideration 6/8/2020 Passed — **28–0** (pass) · upper - HOUSE CIVIL JUSTICE SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Judiciary 2/11/2020 — **0–0** (pass) · lower - SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 0 PNV 1 6/2/2020 Passed — **8–0** (pass) · upper - HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 2/19/2020 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower - HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/2/2020 2/27/2020 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower ## Sponsors - Carter — primary (person) - Gardenhire — primary (person) ## Timeline The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote. - **2020-01-27** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction` - **2020-01-28** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction` - **2020-01-29** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction` - **2020-01-29** Intro., P1C. `introduction` - **2020-01-30** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee - **2020-01-30** P2C, ref. to Judiciary `referral-committee` - **2020-01-31** Assigned to s/c Civil Justice Subcommittee `referral-committee` - **2020-02-05** Placed on s/c cal Civil Justice Subcommittee for 2/11/2020 - **2020-02-11** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable` - **2020-02-12** Placed on cal. Judiciary for 2/19/2020 - **2020-02-19** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable` - **2020-02-26** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 2/27/2020 - **2020-02-27** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/3/2020 - **2020-02-27** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/2/2020 - **2020-03-02** Passed H., as am., Ayes 99, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage` - **2020-03-02** H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0544) `amendment-passage` - **2020-03-03** Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 3/10/2020 - **2020-03-03** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen. - **2020-03-04** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/10/2020 - **2020-03-05** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction` - **2020-03-10** Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 3/17/2020 - **2020-03-11** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/17/2020 - **2020-03-17** Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee - **2020-06-01** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 6/2/2020 - **2020-06-02** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 0 PNV 1 - **2020-06-05** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 6/8/2020 - **2020-06-08** Companion House Bill substituted - **2020-06-08** Passed Senate, Ayes 28, Nays 0, PNV 1 `passage` - **2020-06-08** Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0684) - **2020-06-08** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill. - **2020-06-09** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker. - **2020-06-10** Signed by Senate Speaker - **2020-06-10** Signed by H. Speaker - **2020-06-12** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt` - **2020-06-22** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature` - **2020-07-02** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 703 - **2020-07-02** Pub. Ch. 703 - **2020-07-02** Effective date(s) 06/22/2020 ## Source OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c9bd2a87-cd9b-442b-9ee0-60c815ba08aa`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).