Image Credit: TN General Assembly
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
Legislation that was originally aimed at keeping recovery houses farther away from Tennessee children passed on the Senate floor on Tuesday morning.
After substituting the House version of the legislation for Senate Bill 1381 (SB1381), sponsored by Senator Bo Watson (R-Hixson-District 11), the bill passed in a bipartisan and unanimous 32 to 0 vote.
The legislation was previously amended in the House, which made some changes to the original intent of the bill, and weakened it considerably.
When first introduced, the legislation required that recovery houses be located “at a distance of not less than a 1,000 feet from a K-12 educational facility, preschool, or daycare facility” and be regulated by the local government.
The bill as amended in the House and voted on yesterday in the Senate grandfathers in all recovery houses that are currently in operation and located less than a 1,000 feet from these facilities where children are present.
According to the House sponsor, Representative Greg Martin (R-Hamilton County-District 26), who introduced the bill on the House floor on April 16th, 2025, the bill only creates a pilot program for Hamilton County “to strengthen the accountability of sober living homes” and is completely permissive to local government meaning they do not have to act on the legislation unless they want to, and it must pass a two-thirds vote before taking effect.
Communal houses for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts — run by offenders — like the one The Tennessee Conservative reported on at the end of 2024, found located near an elementary school in Hamilton County allowed to continue operating.
Martin referred to this particular “sober living home” in his statements on the House floor, saying he believed it to be just two houses away from Hixson Elementary School. A parent whose child witnessed a dangerous incident in front of the home in question reached out to Martin to run the legislation, but the final, weakened bill does nothing of real substance to protect children in the neighborhood.
The final version of the legislation for the pilot program does three things.
- Requires that sober living homes within 1,000 feet of schools or daycares to follow best practices of organizations listed in TCA § 33-2-1401
- Requires that these homes follow applicable health, safety, and building codes
- Could also require that residents receive a referral or recommendation from a licensed health care provider
No expansion of the pilot across the state is possible before coming back to the legislature for approval.
The legislation passed on the House floor on April 16th, 2025, in an 80 to 8 vote.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
