---
type: "Bill"
title: "Teachers, Principals and School Personnel - As enacted, confers immunity from civil liability upon a teacher, principal, school employee, or school bus driver properly using reasonable force to correct or restrain a student or prevent bodily harm or death to another person. - Amends TCA Title 39; Title 40 and Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 41."
description: "Teachers, Principals and School Personnel - As enacted, confers immunity from civil liability upon a teacher, principal, school employee, or school bus driver properly using reasonable force to correct or restrain a student or prevent bodily harm or death to another person. - Amends TCA Title 39; Title 40 and Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 41."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "SB 109"
citation: "Tennessee SB 109 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Principals and School Personnel", "Teachers"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Baum", "Powers"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 36
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2021-01-11"
last_action: "2021-05-03"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/387bc5ed-4fd1-45d1-87e2-b7a246c66187"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0109&GA=112"
source_hash: "17c13527635f4f5a4b7bcfcd819a44c1c50ee4eb89933467e92bff1b4c77da10"
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 109 (112) — Teachers, Principals and School Personnel - As enacted, confers immunity from civil liability upon a teacher, principal, school employee, or school bus driver properly using reasonable force to correct or restrain a student or prevent bodily harm or death to another person. - Amends TCA Title 39; Title 40 and Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 41.

## Version chain

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

1. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Bill/SB0109.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE CIVIL JUSTICE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/10/2021 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/22/2021 Passed (1) — **73–23** (pass) · lower
- SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, referred to Senate Calendar Committee 3/24/2021 Passed — **8–1** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: Third Consideration 4/1/2021 Passed (1) — **27–6** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CIVIL JUSTICE SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee 3/2/2021 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/22/2021 3/18/2021 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Baum — primary (person)
- Powers — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-11** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-01-12** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-01-13** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee
- **2021-02-10** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-11** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2021-02-22** Assigned to s/c Civil Justice Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-22** P2C, ref. to Civil Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-24** Placed on s/c cal Civil Justice Subcommittee for 3/2/2021
- **2021-03-02** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-02** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-03** Placed on cal. Civil Justice Committee for 3/10/2021
- **2021-03-10** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-11** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-17** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/18/2021
- **2021-03-18** Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/24/2021
- **2021-03-18** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-18** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/22/2021
- **2021-03-22** Passed H., Ayes 73, Nays 23, PNV 1 `passage`
- **2021-03-22** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-23** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.
- **2021-03-24** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2021-03-25** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-25** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-03-30** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/1/2021
- **2021-04-01** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-04-01** Companion House Bill substituted
- **2021-04-01** Passed Senate, Ayes 27, Nays 6 `passage`
- **2021-04-01** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.
- **2021-04-05** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.
- **2021-04-07** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2021-04-07** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2021-04-08** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2021-04-20** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-05-03** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 188
- **2021-05-03** Effective date(s) 07/01/2021
- **2021-05-03** Pub. Ch. 188

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/387bc5ed-4fd1-45d1-87e2-b7a246c66187`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).