---
type: "Bill"
title: "Sexual Offenses - As enacted, states that a victim of sexual battery is incapable of consenting to sexual contact with a member of the clergy, healthcare professional, or alcohol and drug abuse counselor who was treating the victim for a mental, emotional, or physical condition if the sexual contact occurs during the course of a consultation, examination, ongoing treatment, therapy, or other provision of such professional services. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 13, Part 5."
description: "Sexual Offenses - As enacted, states that a victim of sexual battery is incapable of consenting to sexual contact with a member of the clergy, healthcare professional, or alcohol and drug abuse counselor who was treating the victim for a mental, emotional, or physical condition if the sexual contact occurs during the course of a consultation, examination, ongoing treatment, therapy, or other provision of such professional services. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 13, Part 5."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "HB 427"
citation: "Tennessee HB 427 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Sexual Offenses"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Littleton", "Roberts"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 43
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2021-01-27"
last_action: "2021-06-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6fcbbd2c-ed79-44ef-b4d2-6fe8ffda212f"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0427&GA=112"
source_hash: "f693ad877c99085527edc5863da6c2ccc6dfb92ad8a5acb7748e9a28a3b62da6"
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 427 (112) — Sexual Offenses - As enacted, states that a victim of sexual battery is incapable of consenting to sexual contact with a member of the clergy, healthcare professional, or alcohol and drug abuse counselor who was treating the victim for a mental, emotional, or physical condition if the sexual contact occurs during the course of a consultation, examination, ongoing treatment, therapy, or other provision of such professional services. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 13, Part 5.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0350** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/HA0350.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0176** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/SA0176.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Bill/HB0427.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE FINANCE, WAYS, AND MEANS COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 5/3/2021 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee 4/14/2021 (5) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE FINANCE, WAYS, AND MEANS SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee 5/3/2021 (4) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 4/12/2021 Passed (1) — **31–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 5/4/2021 Passed (1) — **93–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Criminal Justice Committee 3/31/2021 (6) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0 3/30/2021 Passed (2) — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 5/4/2021 5/3/2021 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Littleton — primary (person)
- Roberts — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-27** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-08** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2021-02-10** Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-10** P2C, ref. to Criminal Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-11** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-02-11** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-22** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2021-03-11** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-24** Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/31/2021
- **2021-03-24** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/30/2021
- **2021-03-30** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2021-03-31** Placed on cal. Criminal Justice Committee for 4/7/2021
- **2021-03-31** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Criminal Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-07** Placed on cal. Criminal Justice Committee for 4/14/2021
- **2021-04-07** Action def. in Criminal Justice Committee to 4/14/2021
- **2021-04-08** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/12/2021
- **2021-04-12** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2021-04-12** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 31, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2021-04-12** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0176)
- **2021-04-14** Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-14** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-14** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2021-04-21** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/28/2021
- **2021-04-27** Placed behind the budget
- **2021-04-28** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 5/3/2021
- **2021-05-03** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 5/4/2021
- **2021-05-03** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 5/3/2021
- **2021-05-03** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-03** Placed on cal. Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for 5/3/2021
- **2021-05-03** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-04** Comp. SB subst.
- **2021-05-04** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-05-04** Passed H., Ayes 93, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2021-05-04** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0350) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2021-05-04** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2021-05-12** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2021-05-13** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2021-05-13** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2021-05-17** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2021-05-25** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-06-01** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 509
- **2021-06-01** Effective date(s) 07/01/2021
- **2021-06-01** Pub. Ch. 509

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6fcbbd2c-ed79-44ef-b4d2-6fe8ffda212f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).