New Tennessee laws take effect on July 1

Changes will affect classrooms, hemp retailers, alcohol-serving businesses, sheriff’s offices, public benefit checks

9:02 p.m. June 20, 2026

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

Tennesseans may not notice every new law that takes effect July 1. But some will show up quickly – in elementary classrooms, sheriff’s offices, child care centers, emergency rooms, businesses that serve alcohol, and shops that sell hemp products.

The changes are broad, but their impact is practical: what students can use in class, what schools must teach, what businesses may need to keep behind the bar, what sheriffs must do, what hemp products can be sold, and what records local governments must check.

Here is a look at several of them, grouped by topic.

Schools and students

Some of the most visible changes will happen inside Tennessee schools.

One new law limits the use of digital devices in kindergarten through fifth grade.

It prohibits students in those grades from accessing digital devices at school, restricts teachers from using digital devices for instruction, and bars electronic testing for those students. The law applies to local education agencies and public charter schools, though it includes some exceptions.

Public schools and public charter schools will also be required to provide instruction on child trafficking awareness and prevention to students in kindergarten through 12th grade through health education.

Another law allows schools to keep epinephrine on hand and administer it to a student believed to be having a life-threatening allergic or anaphylactic reaction. For parents, that is the kind of law they may never think about – until a child suddenly cannot breathe.

The state is also expanding the law around inappropriate relationships between teachers and students. The new measure broadens the prohibition on sexual relationships between teachers and students.

Threats against schools and child care settings will carry heavier consequences. A new law makes it a Class E felony to recklessly threaten mass violence at a child care agency, preschool, or religious institution.

Children and families

A new law aimed at child influencers brings Tennessee into a growing national conversation about children, online content, and money.

Under the law, children under 14 cannot make money from posting their own content. Children ages 14 to 18 are entitled to all money made from content they post themselves.

The law also applies to adults who earn money from content featuring children. If a child appears in at least 30% of a creator’s monetized content during a 30-day period, the child must be paid. That money must be placed in a trust and made available when the child turns 18.

In plain terms, the law is aimed at making sure children featured in profitable content are not left out of the money.

Creators must keep records, including how much money the content earns and how much of it features the child. If a child between 14 and 18 asks for a video featuring them to be removed, the creator must take it down.

Another new law, called the Childcare Red Tape Reduction Act, is intended to make it faster and easier to open and operate child care facilities.

The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services will also undergo changes under a new law that overhauls the agency's quality assurance.

Hemp and cannabinoid products

Tennessee’s hemp market will change sharply on July 1.

The state will bar the sale of hemp products containing 0.3% or more THCA. THCA converts to Delta-9 THC when heated, and the change is expected to remove many popular smokable hemp flowers, pre-rolls, and concentrated vapes from legal retail shelves.

The law does not ban every hemp-derived product. Delta-9 THC edibles and beverages remain legal, but they will face tighter regulation and must be sold through licensed retailers under the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

The law also shifts regulatory oversight of hemp from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture to the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, bringing the industry closer to the state’s alcohol-style regulatory system.

Legal hemp sales will also be limited to face-to-face, in-person transactions. Buyers must be 21 or older and show a valid government-issued ID.

The change will reshape where hemp-derived cannabinoid products can be sold. Grocery stores and convenience stores will no longer be able to sell those products once their legacy Department of Agriculture licenses expire. Legal sales will be limited to licensed, age-restricted vape and smoke shops or liquor-by-the-drink establishments.

For customers, the difference may be simple: Products that were on the shelf one week may be gone the next.

For retailers, it is a larger shift – new oversight, new licensing rules, and a much narrower lane for what can be sold.

Public safety and criminal penalties

Several new laws deal with crime, sentencing, and public safety.

One law expands the circumstances in which a person may claim legal protection for using deadly force in defense of property. The law applies to certain situations, including attempted or actual trespassing, arson, burglary, theft, robbery, damage to property, damage to livestock, or aggravated cruelty to animals.

Another law targets drink spiking, a crime that can leave victims unable to clearly account for what happened. Certain businesses that serve alcohol will be required to stock drink-testing devices. The law also makes drugging or spiking another person’s drink a Class D felony.

A separate law creates the Class D felony offense of coercive suicide. The law applies to people who intentionally encourage another person to die by suicide or attempt suicide within a certain period of time.

Judges will also be required to order consecutive sentences for defendants convicted of two or more crimes involving more than one minor victim, unless the court decides otherwise.

Another law outlines aggravating factors that can support a sentence of death or life without the possibility of parole.

Retail theft penalties are also increasing. The law adds tougher penalties for repeat and organized theft. It also increases penalties when a person commits retail theft while carrying a firearm, ammunition, or a firearm accessory, including a mandatory minimum jail sentence of 30 days.

Medical examiners and regional forensic centers will be required to test a deceased suspected mass shooter for drugs, including therapeutic levels of psychotropic drugs, when a shooting results in four or more deaths.

Immigration enforcement and citizenship checks

Other measures deal with immigration enforcement, public benefits, and eligibility checks.

One law makes certain records tied to immigration enforcement actions confidential and not subject to public inspection. That includes names, addresses, contact information, and other identifying details of federal, state, or local officers, agents, or officials participating in federal immigration enforcement.

Another law makes it a Class A misdemeanor for a person who has been ordered by the federal government to leave the United States to remain in Tennessee more than 90 days after that order.

Sheriffs’ offices will also face a new requirement. Each county sheriff must enter into an agreement under an available federal 287(g) immigration enforcement program by Jan. 1, 2027.

If a sheriff’s office does not enter the agreement, the state could withhold funds allotted to that agency or local government for the agency’s use. The law allows temporary suspension during emergencies when deputies must be redirected to respond to public safety threats.

The same theme shows up in local paperwork. Local governments will be required to verify that people applying for public benefits, including financial aid or government programs, are U.S. citizens or legal residents.

A separate law requires applicants for professional licenses, permits, or certifications to prove they are U.S. citizens or legal residents.

Health care and mental health

One new law draws a line around artificial intelligence and mental health care. It bars AI developers from marketing or claiming that an artificial intelligence system is, or can function as, a licensed mental health professional.

Another law deals with emergency care for pregnant women. It prohibits hospital emergency departments from denying a pregnant woman an appropriate medical screening examination when she presents in active labor or with an emergency medical condition.

The law also prohibits a transfer unless the patient’s condition has been stabilized and the transfer meets certain conditions. Violations can bring penalties and licensing sanctions.

Colleges and free speech

A new higher education law requires Tennessee colleges and universities to adopt free-speech protections and a policy modeled after the University of Chicago’s Freedom of Expression Policy.

The measure includes protections tied to campus speakers, student organizations, faculty speech, religious beliefs, and certain political or moral viewpoints.

It bars institutions from canceling speakers because of threatened protests or opposition, restricting student organizations in their choice of invited speakers, or retaliating against faculty members for protected speech or writing.

Tobacco and vaping

Separately, another new law creates penalties for people under 21 who illegally buy tobacco, hemp, vapor products, or smokeless tobacco.

For those ages 18 to 21, penalties may include 50 hours of community service, completion of a court-ordered program, and a fine between $10 and $50.

What it means locally

For most Tennesseans, the July 1 changes will not land all at once.

Some will be felt in classrooms, where elementary students and teachers will face new limits on the use of digital devices. Others will show up behind the counter at businesses that serve alcohol, in hemp and vape shops, in sheriff’s offices, in licensing paperwork, or in emergency rooms.

In Moore County, the changes could touch school policy, law enforcement procedures, local government paperwork, businesses that serve alcohol, and retailers that sell hemp-derived products.

Parents may notice new classroom rules. Local officials may face new verification requirements. Businesses may need new testing supplies. Courts will have new sentencing rules. Families who make money from online content featuring children will face new recordkeeping and trust requirements. And hemp retailers and customers may see one of the most immediate changes on shelves, as some products that were legal to sell before July 1 may disappear from local retail displays.

Taken together, the laws touch several parts of daily life in Tennessee – some visible, some buried in paperwork, and some likely to matter most when the stakes are high.