Every year, the Tennessee Legislature passes legislation that impacts tort law, and the 114th General Assembly was no exception. Here is a summary of seven bills that personal injury and wrongful death lawyers on both sides of the “v” need to know.

Public Chapter 160 grants immunity to law enforcement officers for personal injury or property damage caused to a person who, in violation of Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-602, intentionally prevents or obstructs a law enforcement officer from effecting a stop, frisk, halt, arrest or search of any person by using force against the law enforcement officer. Immunity is removed if the law enforcement officer is grossly negligent or engaged in willful misconduct and does not apply if third parties are injured or damaged.¹

Public Chapter 255 replaces existing Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-185, which historically addressed the use of “off-highway motor vehicles” on highways, and continues on to delete or modify certain other statutes on this subject. Subject to certain exceptions, prior law prohibited such vehicles from operating on highways. The new legislation applies to “utility terrain vehicles,” defined as including “low speed vehicles,”² “medium speed vehicles,”³ Class I off-highway vehicles,”⁴ “Class 2 off-highway vehicles”⁵ and “All-terrain vehicles”⁶ (but not “golf carts.”⁷) and appears to consolidate the law previously scattered around the code into one comprehensive statute. Subject to licensure, insurance and safety equipment requirements, utility terrain vehicles are permitted to operate on certain roads in the state at specified times of day. The act also creates exceptions to the general rule for certain roads in enumerated counties. If you have an interest in driving “utility terrain vehicles” on public roads or if your client is involved in a wreck with one of these vehicles on a public road on or after April 24, 2025 (the law’s effective date) you will want to read this statute.

The limitations period for civil claims arising out of child sexual abuse has been changed again for claims arising on or after July 1, 2025.  Public Chapter 291 expands the limitations period to the later of (a) the victim’s 48th birthday, or (b) within three years after the date of discovery of the abuse by the injured person.

Public Chapter 299 deletes the current language of Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-20-107(h) and substitutes new language. The section prohibits local governments and school districts from granting immunity to independent school bus contractors. The language is similar, but less broad, than legislation passed a year earlier in Public Chapter 809. The exact intent of the legislature here is unclear.

Public Chapter 311 imposes tort liability on charitable organizations that provide housing to a person whom the organization knows to be unlawfully present in the United States if that person commits a criminal offense while receiving housing services. Liability is imposed if the conduct in providing the housing services was negligent, grossly negligent, or willful and wanton misconduct. “Housing” is a defined term that includes long-term living accommodations, including obtaining or signing a lease, but does not include temporary overnight housing such as that provided by a homeless shelter. Since many car and truck wrecks involve violations of Tennessee’s rules of the road (which carry criminal penalties), charitable organizations may be potentially liable for losses, injuries and deaths arising out of traffic wrecks caused by such individuals.⁸ The 2A lobby continues to use its 1A rights to change the law to protect those who arm a subset of its members, this time to a statute first enacted in 2023 concerning lawsuits against manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and their component parts.

Public Chapter 329 changes many of the definitions in the original legislation and expands its reach to protect manufacturers and sellers of the accoutrements favored by some gun owners (body armor, silencers, knives, saps, tasers, etc., that are essential paraphernalia for those who have a certain lifestyle). It enacts special pleading and proof requirements in what would otherwise be ordinary products liability cases concerning such items. It eliminates any potential of a person injured or killed by these products to bring nuisance or “market share”cases. It protects Tennessee manufacturers of such products from paying judgments entered in other states on legal theories not permitted under Tennessee law, shifting attorney’s fees and awarding treble damages against the judgment creditor and their attorneys for having the audacity to attempt to do so. The good news is limited liability means that the price of a khopesh⁹ is expected to decline substantially.¹⁰

Finally, Public Chapter 486 increases filing fees in circuit and chancery courts. For tort cases, the filing fee increases to $275 on Jan. 1, 2026. The filing fees increase $25 per year, effective Jan. 1, topping out at $325 as of Jan. 1, 2028. These filing fees do not include state and local litigation taxes.¹¹ Filing fees stay the same in civil cases in our general sessions’ courts. The fees charged for issuing subpoenas will not increase. The legislation also limits fees and subscription fees for clerks who have electronic filing systems. The new law imposes a new $2 per case tax in tort (and other civil and criminal cases, but excluding juvenile and municipal court matters), with the funds designated for court clerk education. |||

JOHN A. DAY is a plaintiff’s injury and wrongful death lawyer with offices in Brentwood, Nashville and Murfreesboro. He took a hunter’s safety course at the age of 12 and owns a 12-gauge shotgun, as well as his late grandfather’s .22-caliber squirrel gun. Some would consider him a “Fudd.” That would be wrong, but he confesses that if being a Fudd means he sees no reason to take a loaded Smith & Wesson Model 500 Magnum to the Brentwood Publix on Sunday morning, he might be one.

NOTES

1.This Act became effective on April 11, 2025.
2. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-101(36). 3. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-101(38).
4. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-101(12).
5. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-101(13).
6. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-101(1).
7. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-101(28).
8. The law became effective on May 2, 2025.
9. A khopesh is an Egyptian knife with a curved blade. You can purchase one, with brass snake detail and a leather scabbard, at www.medievalcollectibles.com. Valentine’s Day gift wrapping is available for $6.
10.This Act became effective on July 1, 2025.
11. The state litigation tax is $23.75 per civil case filed in chancery court and circuit court. Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-4-602 (b). It is $17.75 in civil general sessions court cases. Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-4-602 (c).