republic-os/legislation/us/states/tn/112/hb-534.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Criminal Offenses - As enacted, creates the Class A misdemeanor of communicating a threat to commit an act of mass violence on school property or at a school-related activity; creates the Class B misdemeanor of knowing failure to report a threat of mass violence on school property or at a school-related activity. - Amends TCA Title 33; Title 37 and Title 39, Chapter 16, Part 5."
description: "Criminal Offenses - As enacted, creates the Class A misdemeanor of communicating a threat to commit an act of mass violence on school property or at a school-related activity; creates the Class B misdemeanor of knowing failure to report a threat of mass violence on school property or at a school-related activity. - Amends TCA Title 33; Title 37 and Title 39, Chapter 16, Part 5."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "HB 534"
citation: "Tennessee HB 534 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Criminal Offenses"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bell", "Howell"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 47
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2021-02-04"
last_action: "2021-05-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c56e7041-e5c1-4a9e-8a5e-e4582c85d432"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0534&GA=112"
source_hash: "97dff5feb64166455a81b7f3463725f49903787f1ecc34270f237e451d439d8c"
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 534 (112) — Criminal Offenses - As enacted, creates the Class A misdemeanor of communicating a threat to commit an act of mass violence on school property or at a school-related activity; creates the Class B misdemeanor of knowing failure to report a threat of mass violence on school property or at a school-related activity. - Amends TCA Title 33; Title 37 and Title 39, Chapter 16, Part 5.

## 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/HB0534.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee 3/10/2021 (5) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/27/2021 4/26/2021 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/27/2021 Passed (1) — **91–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE FINANCE, WAYS, AND MEANS SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee 4/21/2021 (4) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 4/20/2021 Passed (1) — **7–2** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Criminal Justice Committee 3/3/2021 (6) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE FINANCE, WAYS, AND MEANS COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 4/26/2021 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bell — primary (person)
- Howell — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-04** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-08** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2021-02-09** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-10** Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-10** P2C, ref. to Criminal Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-10** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-02-11** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2021-02-17** Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 2/24/2021
- **2021-02-22** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-02-24** Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/3/2021
- **2021-02-24** Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 3/3/2021
- **2021-03-01** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-03** Placed on cal. Criminal Justice Committee for 3/10/2021
- **2021-03-03** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Criminal Justice Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-10** Rec. for pass; ref to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-17** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 3/24/2021
- **2021-03-17** Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-24** Placed behind the budget
- **2021-04-07** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/13/2021
- **2021-04-13** Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 4/14/2021
- **2021-04-14** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/20/2021
- **2021-04-14** Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 4/20/2021
- **2021-04-14** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 4/14/2021
- **2021-04-19** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/21/2021
- **2021-04-20** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2021-04-21** Placed on cal. Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for 4/26/2021
- **2021-04-21** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-23** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/27/2021
- **2021-04-26** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-04-26** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/27/2021
- **2021-04-26** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/26/2021
- **2021-04-26** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-27** Passed Senate, Ayes 26, Nays 4, PNV 1 `passage`
- **2021-04-27** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.
- **2021-04-27** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-04-27** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-04-27** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.
- **2021-04-27** Passed H., Ayes 91, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2021-04-27** Companion House Bill substituted
- **2021-04-28** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.
- **2021-04-30** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2021-05-03** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2021-05-04** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2021-05-11** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-05-18** Effective date(s) 07/01/2021
- **2021-05-18** Pub. Ch. 395
- **2021-05-18** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 395

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c56e7041-e5c1-4a9e-8a5e-e4582c85d432`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).