---
type: "Bill"
title: "Adoption - As enacted, expands the definition of severe child sexual abuse for purposes of termination of parental rights and giving a parent standing to file a petition to terminate the parental rights of the abusive parent; declares all adoption records to be a public record when 100 years have elapsed since the date the adoption was finalized; makes various other changes in regard to termination of parental rights and adoption. - Amends TCA Title 10, Chapter 7, Part 5; Title 36; Title 37 and Title 68."
description: "Adoption - As enacted, expands the definition of severe child sexual abuse for purposes of termination of parental rights and giving a parent standing to file a petition to terminate the parental rights of the abusive parent; declares all adoption records to be a public record when 100 years have elapsed since the date the adoption was finalized; makes various other changes in regard to termination of parental rights and adoption. - Amends TCA Title 10, Chapter 7, Part 5; Title 36; Title 37 and Title 68."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "HB 2070"
citation: "Tennessee HB 2070 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Adoption"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Haile", "Leatherwood"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 48
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2022-01-27"
last_action: "2022-05-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a6c3ce2c-bb0a-4553-8411-5e8a4437cbcd"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=HB2070&GA=112"
source_hash: "d67d3fce2cbb069d67b0512ce8c325a3e883ac6cd31c9b3314a8802412e3692b"
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 2070 (112) — Adoption - As enacted, expands the definition of severe child sexual abuse for purposes of termination of parental rights and giving a parent standing to file a petition to terminate the parental rights of the abusive parent; declares all adoption records to be a public record when 100 years have elapsed since the date the adoption was finalized; makes various other changes in regard to termination of parental rights and adoption. - Amends TCA Title 10, Chapter 7, Part 5; Title 36; Title 37 and Title 68.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0628** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/HA0628.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0536** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/SA0536.pdf)
3. **Amendment SA0583** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/SA0583.pdf)
4. **Amendment SA0724** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/SA0724.pdf)
5. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Bill/HB2070.pdf)

## Votes

- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 6, Nays 2 PNV 0 3/22/2022 Passed (2) — **6–2** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CIVIL JUSTICE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/9/2022 (4) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CHILDREN & FAMILY AFFAIRS SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee 3/2/2022 (5) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0 3/1/2022 Passed (3) — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/17/2022 3/10/2022 (3) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: MESSAGE CALENDAR CONCUR IN SENATE AMENDMENT # 3 4/7/2022 Passed (1) — **76–7** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/17/2022 Passed (2) — **91–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 3/31/2022 Passed (1) — **24–5** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Haile — primary (person)
- Leatherwood — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-01-27** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2022-01-27** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2022-01-31** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2022-01-31** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2022-02-02** Assigned to s/c Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2022-02-02** P2C, ref. to Civil Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2022-02-02** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2022-02-16** Placed on s/c cal Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee for 2/23/2022
- **2022-02-16** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 2/22/2022
- **2022-02-22** Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 3/1/2022
- **2022-02-23** Placed on s/c cal Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee for 3/2/2022
- **2022-02-23** Action Def. in s/c Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee to 3/2/2022
- **2022-02-23** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/1/2022
- **2022-02-28** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-03-01** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2022-03-02** Placed on cal. Civil Justice Committee for 3/9/2022
- **2022-03-02** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2022-03-08** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/10/2022
- **2022-03-09** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/10/2022
- **2022-03-09** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-03-10** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/17/2022
- **2022-03-10** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-03-10** Re-refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2022-03-16** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/22/2022
- **2022-03-17** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.
- **2022-03-17** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-03-17** Passed H., as am., Ayes 91, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2022-03-17** H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0628) `amendment-passage`
- **2022-03-21** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2022-03-22** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 6, Nays 2 PNV 0
- **2022-03-29** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/31/2022
- **2022-03-31** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 24, Nays 5 `passage`
- **2022-03-31** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 3 - SA0724)
- **2022-03-31** Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 2 - SA0583)
- **2022-03-31** Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0536)
- **2022-03-31** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.
- **2022-03-31** Companion House Bill substituted
- **2022-04-01** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-04-04** H. Placed on Message Calendar for 4/7/22
- **2022-04-07** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.
- **2022-04-07** H. concurred in S. am. no. 3 Ayes 76, Nays 7 PNV 0 HB2070
- **2022-04-14** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2022-04-18** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2022-04-19** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2022-04-29** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2022-05-04** Effective date(s) 07/01/2022
- **2022-05-04** Pub. Ch. 937
- **2022-05-04** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 937

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a6c3ce2c-bb0a-4553-8411-5e8a4437cbcd`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).