---
type: "Bill"
title: "Public Records - As enacted, exempts certain records of counties and municipalities from open records law. - Amends TCA Title 5, Chapter 1, Part 1; Title 6, Chapter 54; Title 10, Chapter 7 and Title 12."
description: "Public Records - As enacted, exempts certain records of counties and municipalities from open records law. - Amends TCA Title 5, Chapter 1, Part 1; Title 6, Chapter 54; Title 10, Chapter 7 and Title 12."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "110"
identifier: "HB 947"
citation: "Tennessee HB 947 (110)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Public Records"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Hensley", "Whitson"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 41
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2017-02-08"
last_action: "2017-05-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0fa15fa8-f754-46b9-b593-b7308657b32d"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0947&GA=110"
source_hash: "90b89373aaa6c0d5d375b0d09dc8cdd6ff441566c22294935ea0748e9b91507d"
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 947 (110) — Public Records - As enacted, exempts certain records of counties and municipalities from open records law. - Amends TCA Title 5, Chapter 1, Part 1; Title 6, Chapter 54; Title 10, Chapter 7 and Title 12.

## Version chain

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

1. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/110/Bill/HB0947.pdf)

## Votes

- CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 5/4/2017 5/2/2017 (1) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- STATE GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 4/25/2017 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- STATE GOVERNMENT SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to State Government Committee 4/12/2017 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Hensley — primary (person)
- Whitson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-02-08** Filed for intro. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2017-02-09** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2017-02-09** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2017-02-09** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2017-02-13** P2C, ref. to State Government Committee `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-13** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee
- **2017-02-14** Assigned to s/c State Government Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-22** Placed on s/c cal State Government Subcommittee for 3/29/2017
- **2017-03-22** Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/28/2017
- **2017-03-28** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2017-03-29** Placed on s/c cal State Government Subcommittee for 4/5/2017
- **2017-03-29** Action Def. in s/c State Government Subcommittee to 4/5/2017
- **2017-04-04** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar calendar for 4/6/2017
- **2017-04-05** Placed on s/c cal State Government Subcommittee for 4/12/2017
- **2017-04-05** Action Def. in s/c State Government Subcommittee to 4/12/2017
- **2017-04-06** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2017-04-06** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 27, Nays 0, PNV 2 `passage`
- **2017-04-06** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0212)
- **2017-04-10** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2017-04-12** Placed on cal. State Government Committee for 4/18/2017
- **2017-04-12** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to State Government Committee `referral-committee`
- **2017-04-19** Placed on cal. State Government Committee for 4/25/2017
- **2017-04-19** Action def. in State Government Committee to 4/25/2017
- **2017-04-25** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-05-02** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 5/2/2017
- **2017-05-03** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 5/4/2017
- **2017-05-04** Comp. SB subst.
- **2017-05-04** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2017-05-04** Concurred, Ayes 26, Nays 0 (Amendment 1 - HA0537) `passage`
- **2017-05-04** Placed on Senate Message Calendar 2 calendar for 5/4/2017
- **2017-05-04** Passed H., as am., Ayes 90, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2017-05-04** H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0537) `amendment-passage`
- **2017-05-04** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2017-05-05** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2017-05-09** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2017-05-09** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2017-05-11** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2017-05-18** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2017-05-23** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 421
- **2017-05-23** Pub. Ch. 421
- **2017-05-23** Effective date(s) 05/18/2017

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0fa15fa8-f754-46b9-b593-b7308657b32d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).