NASHVILLE, TN. (WLAF)- With the Tennessee General Assembly preparing for its next session, several bills are before the house and the senate. Among those are:

SB0071: Requires the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to perform forensic analysis of sexual assault evidence collection kits within 30 days of the bureau’s receipt of the sexual assault evidence collection kit from a law enforcement agency; requires the bureau to submit a plan for eliminating any existing backlog of sexual assault evidence collection kits waiting for analysis; requires the bureau to expunge a DNA record from a local, state, or national DNA database under certain circumstances. This bill has a matching bill in the senate.

SB0074/HB0027: Allows a student who earns their first baccalaureate degree in less than the projected completion time to continue to receive the Tennessee HOPE scholarship in pursuit of an advanced degree. 

HB0022/SB0015: Requires an audiovisual recording be made of any interrogation of a child who has been taken into custody on suspicion the child committed a delinquent act or unruly conduct; the only exception would be a technical issue with the equipment or exigent circumstances preventing the recording. 

HB0023/SB0027: Requires governing bodies to make agendas of meetings and supplemental meeting documents available to the public at least 48 hours prior to the meeting. 

HB0024/SB0014: Requires the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to analyze a sexual assault evidence collection kit within 30 days of the bureau’s receipt of the sexual assault evidence collection kit from a law enforcement agency. 

HB0019: Allows persons convicted of a criminal offense and sentenced to a term of imprisonment in prison to serve as an executor, administrator or guardian, fiduciary, or conservator; removes the requirement that a petition for appointment of a conservator, a petition for letters of administration, and a petition for letters testamentary contain a statement of any misdemeanor conviction of the proposed conservator or personal representative. 

HB0026/SB0013: Prohibits a court from requiring an individual to pay outstanding court-assessed fines, fees, taxes, or costs arising from a criminal proceeding, excluding restitution owed to a victim, during the 180-day period following the individual’s release from a term of imprisonment for a felony offense. 

(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED 1/10/23- 6AM)

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