republic-os/legislation/us/states/tn/112/sb-1388.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Child Custody and Support - As enacted, prohibits a court from solely considering a parent's disability to determine custody unless it impacts the parent's ability to meet the needs of the child; specifies that a court cannot consider a parent or guardian's disability alone in a termination of parental rights proceeding unless it impacts the physical or psychological welfare of the child. - Amends TCA Title 36 and Title 37."
description: "Child Custody and Support - As enacted, prohibits a court from solely considering a parent's disability to determine custody unless it impacts the parent's ability to meet the needs of the child; specifies that a court cannot consider a parent or guardian's disability alone in a termination of parental rights proceeding unless it impacts the physical or psychological welfare of the child. - Amends TCA Title 36 and Title 37."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "SB 1388"
citation: "Tennessee SB 1388 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Child Custody and Support"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Harris", "Kyle"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 36
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2021-02-10"
last_action: "2021-05-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3927af48-1ce0-4619-8b9f-d470ec848a52"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1388&GA=112"
source_hash: "efaca83c661b05bd0a86308267220141ec0dea2b014711a59472c14dc643d317"
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 1388 (112) — Child Custody and Support - As enacted, prohibits a court from solely considering a parent's disability to determine custody unless it impacts the parent's ability to meet the needs of the child; specifies that a court cannot consider a parent or guardian's disability alone in a termination of parental rights proceeding unless it impacts the physical or psychological welfare of the child. - Amends TCA Title 36 and Title 37.

## 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/SB1388.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE CIVIL JUSTICE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/17/2021 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 3/30/2021 Passed (2) — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CHILDREN & FAMILY AFFAIRS SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee 3/10/2021 (4) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt 4/5/2021 Passed (1) — **32–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/29/2021 Passed (1) — **92–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/29/2021 3/25/2021 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Harris — primary (person)
- Kyle — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-10** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-11** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-02-11** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-22** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2021-02-22** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2021-02-24** Assigned to s/c Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-24** P2C, ref. to Civil Justice Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-25** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-03** Placed on s/c cal Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee for 3/10/2021
- **2021-03-10** Placed on cal. Civil Justice Committee for 3/17/2021
- **2021-03-10** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Civil Justice Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-17** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/23/2021
- **2021-03-17** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-23** Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 3/30/2021
- **2021-03-24** Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/30/2021
- **2021-03-24** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/25/2021
- **2021-03-25** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-25** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/29/2021
- **2021-03-29** Passed H., Ayes 92, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2021-03-29** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-30** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2021-03-30** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.
- **2021-04-01** Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 4/5/2021
- **2021-04-01** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-04-05** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-04-05** Companion House Bill substituted
- **2021-04-05** Passed Senate, Ayes 32, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2021-04-05** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.
- **2021-04-06** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.
- **2021-04-08** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2021-04-13** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2021-04-14** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2021-04-22** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-05-04** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 235
- **2021-05-04** Effective date(s) 7/1/2021
- **2021-05-04** Pub. Ch. 235

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3927af48-1ce0-4619-8b9f-d470ec848a52`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).