Employees, Employers - As enacted, requires a public safety employer to provide an employee or prospective employee with reasonable access to the employee's or prospective employee's full employment record, including the, the official text

...

!:         mE\:it~rl\:•

    .....

ff J Slate  efl4Z&SS&,

                             PUBLIC CHAPTER NO. 849

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 2032

                                                              By Lowe

                                           Substituted for: House Bill No. 2074

                                     By Vital, Howell, Reneau, Cochran, Crawford

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 8; Title 38; Title 50; Title 62 and Title
          68, relative to employment.

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

          SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 50, Chapter 1, Part 3, is amended by adding
the following as a new section:

                    (a) As used in this section:

                              (1) "Employee" means an individual who performs services for a public safety
                    employer for valuable consideration, or on a volunteer basis, and does not include a
                    self-employed independent contractor;

                              (2) "Public safety employer" means an individual or entity that employs one (1)
                    or more employees and includes this state and political subdivisions of this state and
                    that requires an employee or prospective employee to submit to a mental health
                    evaluation as a condition of employment or prospective employment in a public safety
                    position;

                              (3) "Public safety position" means employment in a position or job type that
                    has as a primary focus the protection of persons or property, or the enforcement of
                    laws, apprehension of criminals, or the prevention of crime, and includes:

                                        (A) A law enforcement officer, as defined in§ 7-51-210;

                                        (B) A firefighter, emergency medical technician, or volunteer rescue
                              squad worker, as those terms are defined in§ 7-51-210;

                                        (C) An individual licensed pursuant to the Emergency Medical Services
                              Act of 1983, compiled in title 68, chapter 140, part 3; and

                                        (D) An individual licensed or registered pursuant to the Private
                              Protective Services Licensing and Regulatory Act, compiled in title 62, chapter
                              35; and

                              (4) "Qualified mental health professional" means a qualified mental health
                    professional, as defined in § 33-1-101, who is authorized within the professional's
                    lawful scope of practice to administer a mental health evaluation for purposes of
                    employment in a public safety position.

                    (b) A public safety employer shall grant the employee or prospective employee
          reasonable access to the employee or prospective employee's full employment record,
          including the results of a mental health evaluation or screening and any report from a
          qualified mental health professional or other evaluator. The public safety employer may
          require that such access be during normal business hours.
SB 2032
                   (c) If a prospective employee submits to a mental health evaluation or screening as a

         condition of prospective employment with a public safety employer, and the prospective
         employee is denied employment, in whole or in part, because of the results of the mental
         health evaluation and screening, then:

                             (1) The prospective employee must be granted reasonable access to the
                   results of the evaluation or screening according to subsection (b);

                             (2) The public safety employer must permit the prospective employee to
                   submit the results of an alternative, equivalent mental health evaluation or screening
                   conducted by a qualified mental health professional, conducted at the prospective
                   employee's expense; and

                             (3) The public safety employer may reevaluate the prospective employee
                   using the submitted alternative mental health evaluation or screening.
                   (d) An employee may bring a private cause of action for a violation of subsection (b)
          against a public safety employer for declaratory or injunctive relief. A court shall award to an
          employee who prevails in such action reasonable court costs and attorney fees.
                   (e) An evaluation, result, or other record provided to an employee or prospective
          employee pursuant to subsection (b) or subdivision (c)(1) is subject to the confidentiality
          requirements of title 10, chapter 7, part 5.
          SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.

                                                                  2
         SENATE BILL NO. 2032

PASSED:  April 9, 2026

         ~

                                                   RANDY Mc~LLY
                                      SPEAKER OF THE SE~ATE

                        ';/fZ
                           CAME~EXTON,SPEAKER
                          HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

(\pr.I APPROVED this ,;;r,11. day of        2026

         ~~ ..
                        BILL LEE, GOVERNOR