---
type: "Bill"
title: "Students - As enacted, specifies that a discipline policy or code of conduct adopted by a local board of education or charter school governing body may authorize a teacher to withhold a student's phone from the student for the duration of the instructional time if the student's phone is a distraction to the class or student. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 2 and Title 49, Chapter 6."
description: "Students - As enacted, specifies that a discipline policy or code of conduct adopted by a local board of education or charter school governing body may authorize a teacher to withhold a student's phone from the student for the duration of the instructional time if the student's phone is a distraction to the class or student. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 2 and Title 49, Chapter 6."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "SB 1995"
citation: "Tennessee SB 1995 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Students"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bell", "Hall"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 32
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2022-01-26"
last_action: "2022-04-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5774ec8e-81b6-4a7a-bf87-a30a6451205c"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1995&GA=112"
source_hash: "ecc2fd7cc4d750dcbbbf321060536881592d76470f4fa5823b7359eba5c64f1b"
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 1995 (112) — Students - As enacted, specifies that a discipline policy or code of conduct adopted by a local board of education or charter school governing body may authorize a teacher to withhold a student's phone from the student for the duration of the instructional time if the student's phone is a distraction to the class or student. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 2 and Title 49, Chapter 6.

## 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/SB1995.pdf)

## Votes

- K-12 SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Education Administration 2/16/2022 (2) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/7/2022 Passed — **93–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/7/2022 3/3/2022 (1) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- HOUSE EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 2/23/2022 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 2/23/2022 Passed (2) — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt 2/28/2022 Passed (1) — **32–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bell — primary (person)
- Hall — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-01-26** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2022-01-27** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2022-01-27** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2022-01-31** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2022-01-31** P2C, ref. to Education Administration `referral-committee`
- **2022-02-01** Assigned to s/c K-12 Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2022-02-02** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee
- **2022-02-09** Placed on s/c cal K-12 Subcommittee for 2/15/2022
- **2022-02-15** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Education Administration `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-02-16** Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 2/23/2022
- **2022-02-16** Placed on cal. Education Administration for 2/23/2022
- **2022-02-23** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2022-02-23** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-02-24** Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 2/28/2022
- **2022-02-28** Passed Senate, Ayes 32, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2022-03-01** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-03-01** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2022-03-02** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/3/2022
- **2022-03-03** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2022-03-03** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/7/2022
- **2022-03-07** Passed H., Ayes 93, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2022-03-07** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2022-03-07** Comp. SB subst.
- **2022-03-07** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-03-09** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2022-03-10** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2022-03-14** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2022-03-14** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2022-03-18** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2022-04-04** Effective date(s) 03/18/2022
- **2022-04-04** Pub. Ch. 707
- **2022-04-04** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 707

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5774ec8e-81b6-4a7a-bf87-a30a6451205c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).