Human Services, Dept. of - As enacted, requires the commissioner to provide the commissioner of correction with a form application for food assistance for use by inmates who are preparing for release. - Amends TCA Title , the official text

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                            PUBLIC CHAPTER NO. 1060

                                                     SENATE BILL NO. 879

                                 By Reeves, Campbell, Oliver, Yarbro, Gardenhire

                                            Substituted for: House Bill No. 684

                                 By Farmer, Behn, Dixie, Clemmons, Miller, Camper

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 71, Chapter 5, Part 3, relative to food
          assistance.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:

          SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 71, Chapter 5, Part 3, is amended by adding
the following as a new section:

                    (a) As used in this section:

                              (1) "Inmate" means an individual incarcerated in a· state correctional
                    institution; and

                              (2) "State correctional institution" means a public or private facility that is
                    operated by or under contract with the department of correction that has the power to
                    detain or restrain, or both, a person under the laws of this state.

                    (b) The commissioner of human services shall provide the commissioner of correction
          with a form application for food assistance for use by inmates who are preparing for release.
          The application must include:

                              (1) An option for an inmate to indicate that the inmate is declining to apply for
                    food assistance;

                              (2) Options for an inmate who declines to apply for food assistance to indicate
                    the inmate's reasons for doing so; and

                              (3)(A) The option for an inmate who wishes to decline to apply for food
                              assistance to do so anonymously; or

                                        (8) A provision authorizing a re-entry specialist from a state
                              correctional institution to formally document an inmate's decision not to pursue
                              food assistance benefits by the inmate's refusal to complete the form
                              application.

                    (c) The department of correction shall:

                              (1) Provide each inmate who is preparing for release from incarceration with a
                    copy of the application described in subsection (b) and sufficient opportunity and
                    means to complete the application prior to release; and

                              (2) Collect all applications from such inmates and return the completed
                    applications to the department of human services.

                    (d) Beginning no later than January 15, 2027, and no later than January 15 of each
          subsequent year, the commissioner of correction shall submit a written report, which may be
          submitted by electronic means, to the chief clerk of the senate, the chief clerk of the house of
SB879
         representatives, and the legislative librarian that includes data from the previous calendar
         year on:
                             (1) The number of food assistance applications that were completed by
                   inmates prior to release in each state correctional institution;
                             (2) The number of such applications on which the inmate indicated a desire to
                   decline to apply for food assistance;
                             (3) Reasons inmates who declined to apply indicated as the reasons for such
                   denial;
                             (4) The number of incomplete applications resulting from inmate refusals to
                   complete the form for food assistance; and
                             (5) The number of inmates who were approved for food assistance prior to
                   release from imprisonment.
                   (e) The commissioner of human services shall seek any waivers from the United
          States department of agriculture that are necessary to provide the application required by
          subsection (b).
                    (f) The commissioner of human services shall provide the commissioner of correction
          any data necessary to complete the report required by subsection (d).
          SECTION 2. The commissioner of correction and the commissioner of human services are

each authorized to promulgate rules to effectuate this act. The rules must be promulgated in
accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in Tennessee Code
Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 5.

          SECTION 3. For the purpose of promulgating rules, this act takes effect upon becoming a
law, the public welfare requiring it. For all other purposes, this act takes effect July 1, 2026, the
publ-ic welfare requiring it.

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         SENATE BILL NO. 879

PASSED:  April 21, 2026

                                                        McNALLY
                                                        'ESENATE

                                •

                         CAMERON SEXTON, SPEAKER
                         HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APPROVED this _'Z_l'J_. day of yv:\ ~  2026

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                  BILL LEE, Gv~b