NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives has filed a number of bills for the upcoming special session of the Tennessee General Assembly. Five bills currently bear his name, spanning mental health care access to increased penalties for stalking offenses.

Gov. Bill Lee announced his intent to call a special session of the legislature in late April, about a month after The Covenant School shooting that saw six lives, including three children, claimed. The governor officially issued the proclamation earlier this month, tasking the legislature to tackle legislation related around mental health and juvenile justice reform.

Here are the bills filed under Speaker Cameron Sexton’s (R—Crossville) name:

HB7032: Requires health insurance carriers, including TennCare providers, to provide mental health services and treatment to the same extent that the carriers and providers provide alcoholism and drug dependence services and treatment.

HB7033: Requires a bail hearing, which must be open to the public, before a defendant who has been arrested or held to answer for a bailable offense may be admitted to bail.

HB7034: Raises from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony knowingly violating an order of protection or a restraining order issued due to domestic abuse when based on stalking; raises the classification range for stalking from a Class A misdemeanor or Class E felony to a Class E or D felony; raises the classification of aggravated stalking from a Class E to a Class D felony; requires a court to order a mental health assessment of a defendant’s need for mental health treatment if convicted of a stalking offense, at cost to the defendant unless indigent; requires the sentence to include the defendant undergoing treatment and monitoring of drug intake if the assessment indicates that the defendant is in need of and amenable to treatment.

HB7035: Establishes a loan forgiveness program for psychiatrists, psychologists, and counselors.

HB7036: Changes prerequisites for emergency detention and admission to a treatment facility from “immediate” substantial likelihood of serious harm to “imminent” substantial likelihood of serious harm.

HB7071: Requires the bureau to submit a report on the number of mass shootings that occur in this state to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the speaker of the senate by January 1, 2024, and by each January 1 thereafter.

HB7072: Directs the administrative office of the courts (AOC) to define and develop a centralized system of case management, document management, electronic case filing, electronic payment methods, data reporting, and any other capability deemed necessary for collection and reporting of all state and local court public case level data.

HB7073: Requires a juvenile court to impose a blended sentence on a child adjudicated delinquent for certain offenses; defines blended sentencing as a combination of any disposition otherwise provided for juveniles and a period of an adult disposition to be served after the child turns 19 and which ends on or before the child’s 24th birthday; requires the juvenile court to hold a transfer hearing if a juvenile offender is 16 or more but less than 18 at the time of the alleged conduct and is alleged to have committed certain offenses; requires the juvenile court to transfer the juvenile to adult criminal court for disposition as if the juvenile were an adult if the court makes certain findings; provides for an automatic de novo review by the criminal court of a juvenile court’s decision denying a transfer to adult criminal court. 

HB7081: Expands the information a person with knowledge of a threat of mass violence must report to the local law enforcement agency to include the approximate age of the person making the threat.

HB7082: Changes the date by which managed care organizations participating in the TennCare program must submit an annual report related to coverage of mental health treatment from March 1 to March 15.

HB7083: Requires the department of health to conduct a study of law in contiguous states concerning certifications and training programs required for healthcare professionals to provide mental health services.

HB7084: Expands the duty to warn of an actual threat of bodily harm to include all healthcare providers, not just mental health professionals and behavior analysts.

HB7085: States that the juvenile court records of a person who was transferred from juvenile court to be tried as an adult in criminal court and who is subsequently convicted may be expunged only by a court order issued under the court in which the person was convicted.