(The Center Square) – When the Tennessee General Assembly voted to place Constitutional Amendment 1 on the 2026 ballot, the only cost included in the joint resolution’s fiscal note was $9,400, which is what it costs to publish the amendment on the ballot.
Rep. Vincent Dixie, a Democrat representing Nashville, says the cost will be more than that and will fall on local counties.
Amendment 1 gives judges the discretion to deny bail for certain offenses. If a majority of Tennessee voters agree, it will become part of the state constitution.
“The first six, I think we can all agree, capital offenses, acts of terrorism, we all agree,” Dixie said in an interview with The Center Square. “Number seven is the issue, where it says that any other offense of which, if convicted, could not be released before serving 85% of their sentences. They don’t define what that is. You are asking people to vote on something that is not defined.”
Tennessee’s Truth in Sentencing law includes a long list of offenses where someone must serve 85% of their sentence if convicted. They include aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, carjacking and aggravated arson. The General Assembly passed the bill in 2022. Gov. Bill Lee returned it without his signature. Tennessee law allows a bill not signed by the governor to take effect in 10 days.
“Data does not support the basic premise of the legislation,” Lee wrote. “Similar legislation has been enacted before and resulted in significant operational and financial strain, with no reduction in crime. Widespread evidence suggests that this policy will result in more victims, higher recidivism, increased crime, and prison overcrowding, all with an increased cost to taxpayers.”
The fiscal note included with the Truth in Sentencing bill said the recurring increase in incarceration could be as high as $40 million.
The concerns Lee raised about increased costs in the Truth in Sentencing bill are similar to Dixie’s concerns about the proposed constitutional amendment on bail regarding the cost of county jails.
“Somebody has to bear the cost of housing, food and medical treatment or in healthcare,” Dixie said. “Who is going to bear that cost? The counties are. And how do the counties pay for this? They have to pay it through the property tax and sales taxes here in Tennessee.”
Dixie owns a bail bonding company but said he didn’t think the law would change his business much, but it could.
“People say, well, you’re doing this because this is going to help your business,” Dixie said. “If you could come up with a better system right now where a victim can have their day in court and the accused can have their day in court, I’ll shut my doors tomorrow.”
More than 20 county jails in Tennessee are over capacity, Dixie said. One is Rutherford County, just outside of Nashville. The county is considering a new jail to address overcrowding.
“Today, the jail is designed to hold approximately 550 inmates but houses around 1,050 people daily, with the population reaching as many as 1,200 at times,” the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post.
Supporters of the bill say the real cost is to the victims and their families.
“Several weeks ago, a violent criminal was let out on bail in west Tennessee, then killed four innocent people,” House Speaker Cameron Sexton said in an email to The Center Square. “What was that cost? Playing this game of cost at the expense of the victims is why blue cities are least safe cities in Tennessee and in America.”
Rep. Dan Howell, R-Cleveland, said in a statement posted to the Republican House Caucus’ website, that lives could have been saved if the constitutional amendment were already in place.
“Allowing someone who commits a heinous crime to post bail and walk free is an insult to all Tennesseans,” Howell said. “We have seen the devastating consequences of soft-on-crime policies, lax bail laws and woke judges across the nation. This critical change to our state constitution will help close the revolving door of the criminal justice system while still allowing reasonable and affordable bail for non-violent offenses.”
Early voting is ongoing and continues through Oct. 29. Election Day is Nov. 3.
