---
type: "Bill"
title: "Divorce, Annulment and Alimony - As enacted, authorizes a court to allow mediation between parties in a divorce proceeding to occur by video conference when appropriate. - Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 4."
description: "Divorce, Annulment and Alimony - As enacted, authorizes a court to allow mediation between parties in a divorce proceeding to occur by video conference when appropriate. - Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 4."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "SB 1661"
citation: "Tennessee SB 1661 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Annulment and Alimony", "Divorce"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Gardenhire", "Smith"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 31
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2021-11-17"
last_action: "2022-04-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/21fd22d8-1439-4863-a0f6-86975fb0cd4a"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1661&GA=112"
source_hash: "fa2c4bb8b14546416dbc97db5646787cdaef7cf39c36975a463bd5c6af4994ae"
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 1661 (112) — Divorce, Annulment and Alimony - As enacted, authorizes a court to allow mediation between parties in a divorce proceeding to occur by video conference when appropriate. - Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 4.

## 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/SB1661.pdf)

## Votes

- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 1/25/2022 Passed — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CHILDREN & FAMILY AFFAIRS SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee 2/9/2022 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 2/28/2022 Passed (1) — **91–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt 1/31/2022 Passed — **33–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 2/28/2022 2/24/2022 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- HOUSE CIVIL JUSTICE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 2/16/2022 — **0–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Gardenhire — primary (person)
- Smith — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-11-17** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2022-01-10** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2022-01-11** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2022-01-11** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2022-01-12** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2022-01-12** Assigned to s/c Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2022-01-12** P2C, ref. to Civil Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2022-01-19** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 1/25/2022
- **2022-01-25** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2022-01-27** Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 1/31/2022
- **2022-01-31** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2022-01-31** Passed Senate, Ayes 33, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2022-02-02** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2022-02-02** Placed on s/c cal Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee for 2/9/2022
- **2022-02-09** Placed on cal. Civil Justice Committee for 2/16/2022
- **2022-02-09** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-02-16** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-02-23** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 2/24/2022
- **2022-02-24** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 2/28/2022
- **2022-02-28** Passed H., Ayes 91, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2022-02-28** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2022-02-28** Comp. SB subst.
- **2022-02-28** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-03-01** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2022-03-02** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2022-03-09** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2022-03-09** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2022-03-18** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2022-04-04** Effective date(s) 07/01/2022
- **2022-04-04** Pub. Ch. 697
- **2022-04-04** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 697

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/21fd22d8-1439-4863-a0f6-86975fb0cd4a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).