republic-os/legislation/us/states/tn/112/sb-476.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Child Abuse - As enacted, makes it a Class A misdemeanor for a person to attempt to access or obtain confidential information from the department of children's services regarding alleged child abuse or neglect that the person knows is in violation of state or federal laws and regulations regarding confidentiality. - Amends TCA Title 37."
description: "Child Abuse - As enacted, makes it a Class A misdemeanor for a person to attempt to access or obtain confidential information from the department of children's services regarding alleged child abuse or neglect that the person knows is in violation of state or federal laws and regulations regarding confidentiality. - Amends TCA Title 37."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "SB 476"
citation: "Tennessee SB 476 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Child Abuse"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bell", "Farmer"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 36
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2021-02-08"
last_action: "2021-06-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/471e28a7-9963-48e9-8fa2-db6a760ae14e"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0476&GA=112"
source_hash: "17e4dafa3b6ea721267b0681a2496e46a1f36dfd53cab901ccc479bbbd4668e7"
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 476 (112) — Child Abuse - As enacted, makes it a Class A misdemeanor for a person to attempt to access or obtain confidential information from the department of children's services regarding alleged child abuse or neglect that the person knows is in violation of state or federal laws and regulations regarding confidentiality. - Amends TCA Title 37.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0389** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/HA0389.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0046** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/SA0046.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Bill/SB0476.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 5/4/2021 5/3/2021 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 5/4/2021 Passed (1) — **89–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 4/21/2021 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 3/9/2021 Passed (2) — **8–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 3/15/2021 Passed (1) — **31–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Criminal Justice Committee 4/14/2021 — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bell — primary (person)
- Farmer — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-08** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-10** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-02-10** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-11** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2021-02-11** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2021-02-22** Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-22** P2C, ref. to Criminal Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-03** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/9/2021
- **2021-03-09** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2021-03-11** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/15/2021
- **2021-03-15** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-15** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2021-03-15** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 31, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2021-03-15** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0046)
- **2021-03-18** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2021-03-31** Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 4/7/2021
- **2021-04-07** Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 4/14/2021
- **2021-04-07** Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 4/14/2021
- **2021-04-14** Placed on cal. Criminal Justice Committee for 4/21/2021
- **2021-04-14** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Criminal Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-21** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-03** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 5/4/2021
- **2021-05-03** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 5/3/2021
- **2021-05-04** Passed H., Ayes 89, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2021-05-04** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0389) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2021-05-04** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2021-05-04** Comp. SB subst.
- **2021-05-04** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-05-12** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2021-05-13** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2021-05-13** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2021-05-17** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2021-05-27** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-06-02** Effective date(s) 07/01/2021
- **2021-06-02** Pub. Ch. 590
- **2021-06-02** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 590

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/471e28a7-9963-48e9-8fa2-db6a760ae14e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).