---
type: "Bill"
title: "Criminal Offenses - As enacted, enacts the \"2020 Defense Doctrine,\" which adds imminent danger of grave sexual abuse as a justification for the use of deadly force in self-defense and to defenses of duress and use of deadly force by law enforcement officer; defines grave sexual abuse as rape, aggravated rape, rape of a child, or aggravated rape of a child. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40."
description: "Criminal Offenses - As enacted, enacts the \"2020 Defense Doctrine,\" which adds imminent danger of grave sexual abuse as a justification for the use of deadly force in self-defense and to defenses of duress and use of deadly force by law enforcement officer; defines grave sexual abuse as rape, aggravated rape, rape of a child, or aggravated rape of a child. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "SB 189"
citation: "Tennessee SB 189 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Criminal Offenses"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bowling", "Ogles"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 45
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2020-12-17"
last_action: "2021-04-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a0217d2e-b79e-4217-89fc-782af991a02f"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0189&GA=112"
source_hash: "359ffa9e7855698ff80fdaa3b31435ce4979ecdc811411b4e5944456a11cde75"
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 189 (112) — Criminal Offenses - As enacted, enacts the "2020 Defense Doctrine," which adds imminent danger of grave sexual abuse as a justification for the use of deadly force in self-defense and to defenses of duress and use of deadly force by law enforcement officer; defines grave sexual abuse as rape, aggravated rape, rape of a child, or aggravated rape of a child. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0016** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/HA0016.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0042** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/SA0042.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Bill/SB0189.pdf)

## Votes

- FLOOR VOTE: MESSAGE CALENDAR CONCUR IN SENATE AMENDMENT # 1 3/25/2021 Passed — **86–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/3/2021 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0 3/9/2021 Passed — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 3/18/2021 Passed (1) — **32–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/15/2021 Passed — **86–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Criminal Justice Subcommittee 2/24/2021 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Criminal Justice Subcommittee 2/24/2021 (2) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/15/2021 3/11/2021 (1) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bowling — primary (person)
- Ogles — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-12-17** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-01-12** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2021-01-13** Ref. to Criminal Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-13** P2C held on desk.
- **2021-01-15** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-01-27** Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-08** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-02-10** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2021-02-10** Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 2/17/2021
- **2021-02-17** Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 2/24/2021
- **2021-02-17** Meeting Canceled
- **2021-02-24** Placed on cal. Criminal Justice Committee for 3/3/2021
- **2021-02-24** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Criminal Justice Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-02** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-03** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/9/2021
- **2021-03-03** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-08** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-09** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2021-03-10** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/11/2021
- **2021-03-11** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/15/2021
- **2021-03-11** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-11** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/15/2021
- **2021-03-15** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-15** Senate Reset on calendar for 3/18/2021
- **2021-03-15** Passed H., as am., Ayes 86, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2021-03-15** H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0016) `amendment-passage`
- **2021-03-16** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/18/2021
- **2021-03-16** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.
- **2021-03-17** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-18** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-18** Companion House Bill substituted
- **2021-03-18** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 32, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2021-03-18** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0042)
- **2021-03-18** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.
- **2021-03-18** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-03-22** H. Placed on Message Calendar for 3/25/21
- **2021-03-25** H. concurred in S. am. no. SA1 Ayes 86, Nays 0 PNV 0 HB0050
- **2021-03-26** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.
- **2021-03-30** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2021-03-31** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2021-03-31** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2021-04-07** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-04-12** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 83
- **2021-04-12** Effective date(s) 04/07/2021
- **2021-04-12** Pub. Ch. 83

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a0217d2e-b79e-4217-89fc-782af991a02f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).