Ballot briefs

Official text

Plain summary

Yes. Lets a judge or magistrate hold some accused people with no bail before trial when the proof is evident or the presumption great, and requires the judge or magistrate to record the reasons for granting or denying bail. It covers six named crimes and every other offense for which, under Tennessee law as of November 3, 2026, a person convicted could not be released before serving at least 85% of the sentence. Under current law that includes reckless homicide, criminally negligent homicide, aggravated burglary, and a third or later felony drug sale, along with many violent and sexual felonies.

No. Keeps capital-only denial of bail under that same proof standard. Second-degree murder, aggravated rape, and acts of terrorism that do not cause a death stay bailable as of right even when the proof is evident. Aggravated rape of a child and grave torture already carry a possible death sentence for adults under current statutes, so whether today's capital-offense exception reaches them is an open legal question. Money bail can still be set, and excessive bail is still forbidden. No is current law, not a neutral abstention.

Stated facts

Senate Joint Resolution 25 substitutes Article I, Section 15. Prisoners stay bailable except for the listed offenses, and only when the proof is evident or the presumption great. The judge or magistrate must place the reasons for granting or denying bail in the record. Category (7) is every other offense for which, as of November 3, 2026, a defendant, if convicted, could not be released before at least eighty-five percent of the entire sentence. The amendment names no Code section. Read against the 2025 Tennessee Code, Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-501, that description includes subsection (cc): reckless homicide, criminally negligent homicide, voluntary manslaughter, vehicular homicide other than by intoxication, aggravated assault, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping, and a Class A, B, or C felony drug manufacture, delivery, or sale after two or more prior such convictions. The floor there is 85 percent: 100 percent, less up to 15 percent for program credits. The one 2026 bill that would have widened subsections (bb) and (cc), SB1929/HB2465, was not enacted, and no other 2026 change was found. In Tennessee, magistrates include judicial commissioners, who are not judges. Under section 40-1-106, magistrates include judges of the general sessions and higher courts, judicial commissioners and county mayors in their counties, and municipal or city court presiding officers. Judicial commissioners set bonds under the law and the guidelines of the presiding general sessions judge. A law license is required only in specified counties, such as those over 800,000 people. Section 40-11-102 still says non-capital defendants shall be bailable. The amendment text omits a detention hearing, a right to counsel, a danger or flight finding, a time limit, and a right of review. Review under section 40-11-144 and Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 8 is statute and court rule, not part of the amendment. A No keeps capital-only denial plus money bail. Section 40-11-118 says bail must be set as low as necessary to reasonably ensure safety and appearance, and ability to pay shall not be considered. Article I, Section 16 forbids excessive bail. No count of how often money bail detains a person was found, and none is assumed.

Lane table

Lanes in tension: Protect community / punish evil versus Justice to the individual / due process.

Counted gaps

Protections the text omits. They count against the measure and do not change the lean into a condition.

• A real detention hearing with counsel is not spelled out in the amendment. There is no right to answer the charge at the bail decision. Proverbs 18:13; Proverbs 18:17; Acts 25:16; John 7:51
• The text requires no finding of danger or flight risk. Denial may rest on the charge plus proof that is evident or a presumption that is great. Deuteronomy 19:15-18
• The text sets no time limit on holding a person without bail before trial. Numbers 35:12
• The amendment text includes no right of review. Review that exists today sits in statute and court rule, which can change without a vote of the people. Deuteronomy 17:18-20
• Category (7) reaches offenses below the six named crimes, including reckless homicide and criminally negligent homicide, on our reading of the current statutes. Deuteronomy 19:4-6; Deuteronomy 25:2; Numbers 35:12

Watch notes

These notes do not change the lean.

• Whether later statutes or court rules give a hearing with counsel and a right to answer.
• How "proof is evident or the presumption great" is read for charges that are not capital.
• Whether Article I, Section 9 is applied to these bail determinations. This brief does not credit Yes with those protections, because the amendment does not write them.
• In Tennessee, magistrates include judicial commissioners, who are not judges, and county mayors.

Lean and why

Lean: No. Prudential judgment Prudential judgment. Scripture doesn't settle it; Christians may vote either way. Amendment 1 would let a judge or magistrate hold some accused people with no bail before trial when the proof is evident or the presumption great, and would require the judge or magistrate to record the reasons for granting or denying bail. It covers six named crimes, including second-degree murder, aggravated rape, terrorism, and torture, plus every other offense for which, under Tennessee law as of November 3, 2026, a person convicted could not be released before serving at least 85% of the sentence. Under current law that includes offenses such as reckless homicide, criminally negligent homicide, aggravated burglary, and a third or later felony drug sale, along with many violent and sexual felonies. In Tennessee, magistrates include judicial commissioners, who are not judges. The text leaves out a detention hearing, a right to counsel, a finding of danger or flight risk, a time limit, and a right of review. Scripture gives no command of liberty pending trial, and the breadth of category (7) is a proportion and fit cost, not a breach of a command. The power may be exercised by a magistrate, including a non-judge judicial commissioner, and its procedural checks sit in ordinary law. On this close call the published tiebreaker prefers the option that adds less unchecked power, so the lean is No. That presumption weighs the danger of overreach above the danger of under-protection; voters who weigh protection higher have good reason to vote Yes. The under-protection cost of No is real and it is not minor: second-degree murder, aggravated rape, and acts of terrorism that do not cause a death stay bailable as of right even when the proof is evident; whether aggravated rape of a child and grave torture, which carry a statutory death sentence for adults, already fall under today's capital exception is an open question. A Yes vote, aimed at protecting neighbors from grave harm, is also a good-conscience vote. Scripture: Romans 13:3-4; Proverbs 17:15; Deuteronomy 19:15-18; Proverbs 18:17; Exodus 23:7

Overreach check

A biblical end does not justify an unjust means. Yes adds a power for a judge or magistrate to deny bail. The text keeps a proof bar and recorded reasons. It does not add a hearing, counsel, a danger finding, a time limit, or review, and category (7) is broad on our reading of the current statutes. The tiebreaker therefore leans No.

Caveats

This is our reading of the amendment text and current Tennessee statutes. A few legal questions are still open: whether probation narrows category (7), and how it interacts with T.C.A. § 40-11-102. In Tennessee, a blank on an amendment works like a No for anyone voting for governor (Tennessee Constitution, Article XI, Section 3; Tennessee Secretary of State). This is the counting rule. It is not a request to vote. Careless denial remains sin. The lean is not built on Leviticus 24:12 or Numbers 15:34.

Official text

Plain summary

Yes. Bars the Legislature from levying, authorizing, or otherwise permitting any state tax on real, personal, or mixed property. The change moves that one power away from the state Legislature. Local property taxes stay. Tennessee has collected no state property tax since 1949, per the legislature's fiscal notes, so the practical stakes are small.

No. Leaves the Legislature able to enact a state property tax by ordinary law. That power has gone unused since 1949. No is current law, not a neutral abstention.

Stated facts

Senate Joint Resolution 1 amends the first sentence of Article II, Section 28 so the Legislature shall not levy, authorize, or otherwise permit any state tax upon real, personal, or mixed property. The official sentence does not abolish local property taxes and states no revenue figure. The General Assembly Fiscal Review Committee note on Senate Joint Resolution 3 of the 111th General Assembly says Public Chapter 90 of 1949 repealed the last levied state property tax and that the state does not currently collect state property taxes, though it would forgo any future revenue from levying one. The fiscal note on Senate Joint Resolution 1 of the 114th General Assembly, dated December 20, 2024, lists a one-time local publishing cost of $9,400 and no change to state revenue. The Department of Revenue says it does not collect property tax. County and city bodies set and collect it. Restoring a state property tax after a Yes would take the Article XI, Section 3 amendment process, not an ordinary statute.

Lane table

Lanes in tension: Lawful tribute and the government's ability to meet its duties versus Restraint of civil authority on taxing power.

Counted gaps

Protections the text omits. They count against the measure and do not change the lean into a condition.

• The text has no emergency or exception clause. A future state need could not use a state property tax without another amendment. That is a prudential cost, not a command breach. Romans 13:6-7

Watch notes

These notes do not change the lean.

• How "authorize, or otherwise permit any state tax" is read against a state-mandated or state-administered local levy. The text does not settle that legal question.
• Whether the change shifts pressure toward other state taxes. That question is prudential and is not graded.

Lean and why

Lean: Yes. Prudential judgment Prudential judgment. Scripture doesn't settle it; Christians may vote either way. Scripture treats tribute as lawful and does not rank one kind of tax above another. On this close call the same tiebreaker, applied the same way as on the bail amendment, prefers the option that adds less unchecked power. Yes moves one taxing power away from the state Legislature and adds none. Tennessee has collected no state property tax since 1949, per the legislature's fiscal notes, so the practical stakes are small. The under-protection cost of Yes is that a future state need could not use this tax without another amendment. No keeps a dormant power that an ordinary statute can revive. Scripture: Romans 13:6-7; Matthew 22:21; 1 Samuel 8:11-18; Deuteronomy 17:18-20

Overreach check

Yes removes one state taxing power and grants none. Local property taxes and the clause that property is subject to taxation stay in the text. No command is broken on either side.

Caveats

In Tennessee, a blank on an amendment works like a No for anyone voting for governor (Tennessee Constitution, Article XI, Section 3; Tennessee Secretary of State). This is the counting rule. It is not a request to vote. 1 Samuel 8 is an illustration only. Deuteronomy 17:16-17 is not used. Westminster Confession of Faith 20 is not the warrant for the tiebreaker.

Official text

Plain summary

Yes. Replaces Article I, Section 35 with a longer victims' bill: notice, presence, a right to be heard, full and timely restitution, and protection, plus fences the current section lacks. The victim is not a party. The section must be interpreted to preserve the rights of all persons to due process. It does not vacate a conviction, and it does not restrict the District Attorney General or the court.

No. Keeps the current Article I, Section 35. That section is not empty. It already includes a right to confer with the prosecution, freedom from intimidation, presence, a right to be heard at critical stages as defined by the General Assembly, notice, a speedy disposition, restitution, and a right to be informed of those rights. It has none of the new fences. No is current law, not a neutral abstention.

Stated facts

The substituted section says a victim, as defined by law and which may be expanded by the General Assembly, has the listed rights, including full and timely restitution and reasonable protection, as defined by the General Assembly, from the accused or any person acting on behalf of the accused. A victim asserts the rights not as a party. The section must be interpreted to preserve and protect the rights of all persons to due process. It does not vacate a conviction and does not restrict the District Attorney General or the inherent authority of the court. It creates no damages claim against the state or court staff. Current Section 35 already gives restitution and a right to be heard. It does not contain the due-process-for-all sentence or the non-party clause.

Lane table

Counted gaps

Protections the text omits. They count against the measure and do not change the lean into a condition.

• The text does not say that a victim's role can never stand in for proof or a proportionate sentence. Deuteronomy 1:17; Deuteronomy 19:15-18
• The General Assembly may expand who counts as a victim. That open definition is a small counted gap. It is ordinary legislative implementation, because current Section 35 already delegates definition to the General Assembly. Romans 3:8
• "Reasonable protection, as defined by the General Assembly," from the accused or any person acting on behalf of the accused has no further limit in the text. Acts 25:16; Proverbs 18:17
• The right to be heard in any proceeding involving release includes pretrial release, and the text sets no rule for how much weight that voice carries. Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 1:16-17

Watch notes

These notes do not change the lean.

• The right to reasonable protection, as defined by the General Assembly, from the accused or any person acting on behalf of the accused must not burden defense counsel or investigators in lawful work. The accused has a right to answer the charge. Acts 25:16; Proverbs 18:17
• Whether victim statements at plea or sentencing are treated as proof of guilt, or as a reason to go beyond a lawful range.
• How the standing language in the final paragraph is carried out.

Lean and why

Lean: Yes. Scripture command Scripture command. Yes strengthens restitution and protection of the person who was wronged, and it adds fences the current section lacks: the victim is not a party, a conviction cannot be vacated under the section, the prosecutor and the court keep their powers, and the section must be read to protect the rights of all persons to due process. The cost to impartial judging is real and small, because a right to be heard already exists. This is not a close call. The open definition of victim stays a counted gap and does not flip the lean. Scripture: Psalms 82:3-4; Exodus 22:1-14; Numbers 5:7; Romans 12:19; Leviticus 19:15

Overreach check

The ends are biblical. The means add a voice at release, plea, sentencing, and parole. The text fences that voice. Those fences do not themselves write a proof rule or a sentence range. That omission is a counted gap, not a condition on the lean.

Caveats

In Tennessee, a blank on an amendment works like a No for anyone voting for governor (Tennessee Constitution, Article XI, Section 3; Tennessee Secretary of State). This is the counting rule. It is not a request to vote. The watch note on defense counsel and investigators does not change the lean.