republic-os/legislation/us/states/tn/111/sb-208.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Adoption - As enacted, eliminates failure to pay prenatal, natal, and postnatal expenses as ground for termination of parental rights; clarifies the definition of notice; removes unnecessary affidavit language; adds existing abuse crimes to the definition of severe child abuse; clarifies definition of putative father; clarifies requirements for checking putative father registry; makes various other revisions. - Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 1, Part 1; Title 36, Chapter 2 and Section 37-1-102."
description: "Adoption - As enacted, eliminates failure to pay prenatal, natal, and postnatal expenses as ground for termination of parental rights; clarifies the definition of notice; removes unnecessary affidavit language; adds existing abuse crimes to the definition of severe child abuse; clarifies definition of putative father; clarifies requirements for checking putative father registry; makes various other revisions. - Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 1, Part 1; Title 36, Chapter 2 and Section 37-1-102."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "111"
identifier: "SB 208"
citation: "Tennessee SB 208 (111)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Adoption"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Carter", "Haile"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 32
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2019-01-29"
last_action: "2019-04-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4169246a-8a06-42d7-82df-30b24edf1bc4"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0208&GA=111"
source_hash: "c02655714e241911549a32808c2a0ad80b158395b8246035ae39029d3c24d179"
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 208 (111) — Adoption - As enacted, eliminates failure to pay prenatal, natal, and postnatal expenses as ground for termination of parental rights; clarifies the definition of notice; removes unnecessary affidavit language; adds existing abuse crimes to the definition of severe child abuse; clarifies definition of putative father; clarifies requirements for checking putative father registry; makes various other revisions. - Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 1, Part 1; Title 36, Chapter 2 and Section 37-1-102.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0007** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/HA0007.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0007** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/SA0007.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Bill/SB0208.pdf)

## Votes

- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 0 PNV 0 2/12/2019 Passed — **8–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 2/20/2019 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/7/2019 Passed (1) — **91–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 2/21/2019 Passed (1) — **30–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CHILDREN & FAMILIES SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Judiciary 2/12/2019 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/7/2019 2/28/2019 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Carter — primary (person)
- Haile — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-29** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-01-29** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-01-30** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2019-01-31** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2019-01-31** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2019-02-04** P2C, ref. to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-05** Assigned to s/c Children & Families Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-06** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 2/12/2019
- **2019-02-06** Placed on s/c cal Children & Families Subcommittee for 2/12/2019
- **2019-02-12** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2019-02-12** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-02-13** Placed on cal. Judiciary for 2/20/2019
- **2019-02-19** Placed on Senate Floor Session calendar for 2/21/2019
- **2019-02-20** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-02-21** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2019-02-21** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 30, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2019-02-21** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0007)
- **2019-02-25** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2019-02-27** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 2/28/2019
- **2019-02-28** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/7/2019
- **2019-03-07** Passed H., Ayes 91, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2019-03-07** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0007) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2019-03-07** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2019-03-07** Comp. SB subst.
- **2019-03-08** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2019-03-12** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2019-03-13** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2019-03-15** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2019-03-22** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-04-01** Pub. Ch. 36
- **2019-04-01** Effective date(s) 07/01/2019
- **2019-04-01** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 36

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4169246a-8a06-42d7-82df-30b24edf1bc4`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).