---
type: "Bill"
title: "Sentencing - As enacted, provides that if the victim in an aggravated sexual battery was less than 18 or was mentally defective, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless, then such battery remains a Class B felony, and the defendant must be punished as a Range II offender; provides that the sentence imposed upon the defendant may, if appropriate, be within Range III but in no case lower than Range II. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 13, Part 5."
description: "Sentencing - As enacted, provides that if the victim in an aggravated sexual battery was less than 18 or was mentally defective, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless, then such battery remains a Class B felony, and the defendant must be punished as a Range II offender; provides that the sentence imposed upon the defendant may, if appropriate, be within Range III but in no case lower than Range II. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 13, Part 5."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "114"
identifier: "SB 678"
citation: "Tennessee SB 678 (114)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Sentencing"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["White"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 22
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2025-01-31"
last_action: "2025-05-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/082c1ce4-d23f-4d4a-8633-5669d1f3aae6"
source_url: "https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default?BillNumber=SB0678&ga=114"
source_hash: "002f5f8689f08862accca14b5fc3ba40e65e5e7f83d03e7a6e33fd24f2b5d649"
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 678 (114) — Sentencing - As enacted, provides that if the victim in an aggravated sexual battery was less than 18 or was mentally defective, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless, then such battery remains a Class B felony, and the defendant must be punished as a Range II offender; provides that the sentence imposed upon the defendant may, if appropriate, be within Range III but in no case lower than Range II. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 13, Part 5.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0374** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Amend/HA0374.pdf)
2. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bill/SB0678.pdf)

## Votes

- FLOOR VOTE: Third Consideration 2/24/2025 Passed (2) — **27–0** (pass) · upper
- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 2/18/2025 Passed (3) — **7–2** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/16/2025 Passed (1) — **88–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Concur House Amendment # 1 4/17/2025 Passed (1) — **32–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- White — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-01-31** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2025-02-10** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2025-02-11** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 2/18/2025
- **2025-02-12** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee `referral-committee`
- **2025-02-18** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2025-02-20** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 2/24/2025
- **2025-02-24** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2025-02-24** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House `receipt`
- **2025-02-24** Passed Senate, Ayes 27, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2025-02-27** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2025-04-16** Placed on Senate Message Calendar for 4/17/2025
- **2025-04-16** Passed H., as am., Ayes 88, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2025-04-16** H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0374) `amendment-passage`
- **2025-04-16** Subst. for comp. HB. `substitution`
- **2025-04-17** Concurred, Ayes 32, Nays 0, PNV 1(Amendment 1 - HA0374) `passage`
- **2025-04-22** Signed by H. Speaker `passage`
- **2025-04-22** Signed by Senate Speaker `passage`
- **2025-04-22** Enrolled and ready for signatures `enrolled`
- **2025-04-23** Transmitted to Governor for action. `executive-receipt`
- **2025-05-05** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2025-05-13** Effective date(s) 07/01/2025
- **2025-05-13** Pub. Ch. 375

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/082c1ce4-d23f-4d4a-8633-5669d1f3aae6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).