---
type: "Bill"
title: "Criminal Offenses - As enacted, specifies that, in regard to the criminal offense of desecration of a venerated object, \"desecrate\" includes, but is not limited to, the removal of objects from a place of burial by a person other than a family member of the deceased or an authorized representative of the cemetery. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 46."
description: "Criminal Offenses - As enacted, specifies that, in regard to the criminal offense of desecration of a venerated object, \"desecrate\" includes, but is not limited to, the removal of objects from a place of burial by a person other than a family member of the deceased or an authorized representative of the cemetery. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 46."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "114"
identifier: "HB 1731"
citation: "Tennessee HB 1731 (114)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Criminal Offenses"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Wright"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 28
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2026-01-20"
last_action: "2026-03-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/02ee91b7-62b7-4266-a405-433d88f8bbeb"
source_url: "https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default?BillNumber=HB1731&ga=114"
source_hash: "c894bb925e1d67d4063b2ca506c1b80f24a6cd74d28f3eb4fe975fff0241f420"
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 1731 (114) — Criminal Offenses - As enacted, specifies that, in regard to the criminal offense of desecration of a venerated object, "desecrate" includes, but is not limited to, the removal of objects from a place of burial by a person other than a family member of the deceased or an authorized representative of the cemetery. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 46.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0598** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Amend/HA0598.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0561** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Amend/SA0561.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bill/HB1731.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/9/2026 3/5/2026 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/4/2026 Passed (3) — **16–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Judiciary Committee 2/11/2026 Passed (4) — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Third Consideration 3/9/2026 Passed (1) — **32–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/9/2026 Passed (1) — **90–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Wright — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-20** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2026-01-21** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2026-01-22** Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-22** P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-04** Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 2/11/2026
- **2026-02-05** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2026-02-11** Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 2/18/2026
- **2026-02-11** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Judiciary Committee `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-18** Action def. in Judiciary Committee to Next Available Calendar
- **2026-02-25** Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 3/4/2026
- **2026-03-04** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/5/2026
- **2026-03-04** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-05** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/9/2026
- **2026-03-09** Passed Senate, Ayes 32, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2026-03-09** Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0561)
- **2026-03-09** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill. `substitution`
- **2026-03-09** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2026-03-09** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen. `receipt`
- **2026-03-09** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2026-03-09** Passed H., as am., Ayes 90, Nays 0, PNV 3 `passage`
- **2026-03-09** H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0598) `amendment-passage`
- **2026-03-10** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker. `enrolled`
- **2026-03-16** Signed by H. Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-17** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-17** Signed by Senate Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-26** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2026-03-30** Effective date(s) 07/01/2026
- **2026-03-30** Pub. Ch. 626

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/02ee91b7-62b7-4266-a405-433d88f8bbeb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).