Tennessee's 3 Constitutional Amendments Explained
Amendment 1: Bail for Serious Crimes
Current law: Tennessee’s Constitution guarantees the right to bail before trial for most crimes. The constitutional exception is capital offenses, such as crimes punishable by death, when the evidence meets a high standard. Judges can set bail amounts and conditions.
YES: Allows judges to deny bail for additional serious crimes, including second-degree murder, terrorism, aggravated rape, grave torture, and certain other offenses requiring at least 85% of a sentence to be served. Judges must explain their decisions on the record.
NO: Keeps the current constitutional rule. People accused of crimes other than capital offenses retain their constitutional right to bail, although bail may be expensive and subject to conditions.
Overview: This amendment determines whether judges can keep more people accused of serious crimes in jail without bail while awaiting trial.
Amendment 2: State Property Taxes
Current law: Tennessee does not currently collect a statewide property tax. However, the state Constitution does not expressly prohibit the legislature from establishing one. Counties and cities already collect local property taxes.
YES: Adds a constitutional prohibition against Tennessee establishing a statewide property tax.
NO: Keeps things as they are. There is no statewide property tax today, but future lawmakers retain the authority to establish one under existing constitutional rules.
Overview: This amendment does not lower your current property taxes. It determines whether future state lawmakers can create an additional property tax at the state level.
Important: Neither YES nor NO eliminates county or city property taxes.
Amendment 3: Crime Victims' Rights (Marsy's Law)
Current law: Tennessee’s Constitution already gives crime victims certain rights, including notification of court proceedings, attending public hearings, speaking with prosecutors, making statements at sentencing, seeking restitution, and receiving information about an offender’s release.
YES: Expands those protections to include additional rights involving parole proceedings, protection against intimidation, information about minimum sentences and scheduled release dates, and consideration of victims’ and families’ safety when release decisions are made.
NO: Keeps the existing victims’ rights in place without adding the proposed constitutional protections. Victims would still have the rights already established under Tennessee law.
Overview: Crime victims already have constitutional rights in Tennessee. This amendment expands and clarifies those rights rather than creating victims’ rights from scratch.
The Difference Between Yes or No
A YES vote means you approve changing the Constitution, not simply passing an ordinary law. Constitutional changes are harder to reverse.
A NO vote does not necessarily mean you oppose the idea behind an amendment. It means you do not want that particular change made to Tennessee’s Constitution.
For a more detailed explanation, please visit the Secretary of State Website, 2026 Proposed Constitutional Amendments, linked below