Remove Right to Bail for Certain Criminal Offenses Amendment
Tennessee Ballot Measure - Senate Joint Resolution 25
Election: Nov. 3, 2026 (General)
Outcome: Pending
Categories:
Criminal JusticeJudicial Branch
Summary
Amendment 1 would create a list of criminal offenses for which a judge could deny bail. Bail could only be denied if sufficient proof of the crime is evident or the presumption of the accused individuals guilt is great. The Tennessee Constitution currently allows judges to deny a defendant bail only in cases of a capital offense. Under Amendment 1, non-bailable offenses would include a capital offense, an act of terrorism, second-degree murder, aggravated rape of a child, aggravated rape, grave torture, and any other offense for which a convicted individual could not be released before serving at least 85% of their sentence.
Amendment 1 would also require a judge or magistrate to record their reasons for either granting or denying bail in a criminal proceeding where an individual is accused of one of the listed offenses.
Measure Text
WHEREAS, Senate Joint Resolution No. 919 of the One Hundred Thirteenth General Assembly, which proposed amendment of Article 1, Section 15 of the Constitution of Tennessee, relative to bail, was considered and agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each of the two houses, as shown by the yeas and nays entered on their journals; and
WHEREAS, on April 23, 2024, such resolution proposing such amendment was published in compliance with Article XI, Section 3 of the Constitution of Tennessee; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, that a two-thirds majority of all the members elected to each house concurring, as shown by the yeas and nays entered on their journals, that it is proposed that Article I, Section 15 of the Constitution of Tennessee be amended by deleting the following:
That all prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, unless for capital offences, when the proof is evident, or the presumption great. And the privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in case of rebellion or invasion, the General Assembly shall declare the public safety requires it.
and substituting instead the following:
(a) All prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient sureties unless for the following
when the proof is evident or the presumption great:
(1) A capital offense;
(2) An act of terrorism;
(3) Second degree murder;
(4) Aggravated rape of a child;
(5) Aggravated rape;
(6) Grave torture; and
(7) Any other offense for which, as of November 3, 2026, a defendant, if
convicted, could not be released prior to the expiration of at least eighty-five
percent of the entire sentence imposed.
(b) In any case in which bail for an offense listed in subsection (a) is granted or
denied before conviction, the judge or magistrate shall place in the record the judge's or
magistrate's reasons for granting or denying bail.
(c) The privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless
when in case of rebellion or invasion, the General Assembly shall declare the public
safety requires it.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in accordance with Article XI, Section 3 of the
Constitution of Tennessee, the foregoing proposed amendment shall be submitted to the people
at the next general election in which a governor is to be chosen, the same being the 2026
November general election, and the Secretary of State is directed to place such proposed
amendment on the ballot for that election.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Clerk of the Senate is directed to deliver copies
of this resolution to the Secretary of State, with this final resolving clause being deleted from
such copies.
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