This act clarifies that a person may petition for a certificate of employability, regardless of whether the person has petitioned to have the person's rights of citizenship restored. In such cases, the petition may be filed in the circuit court of the county where the petitioner resides or where the conviction for the crime occurred.

This act enhances the punishment for intentionally desecrating a place of worship or burial. Under present law, intentional desecration of a place of worship or burial is a Class A misdemeanor. This amendment increases the penalty to a Class E felony.

This act authorizes a private employer to adopt an employment policy that gives preference in hiring to: An honorably discharged veteran, the spouse of a veteran with a service-connected disability, the unremarried widow or widower of a veteran who died of a service-connected disability, or the unremarried widow or widower of a member of the United States armed forces who died in the line of duty.

Present law requires the Tennessee higher education commission (THEC) to develop a statewide master plan for future development of public higher education in this state (which includes the state technology centers). THEC must develop county and regional profiles that frame planning objectives from a regional perspective. Master planning goals include, but are not limited to: increasing educational attainment levels of Tennesseans; creating improved regional and statewide linkages with K-12 education to ensure that students are prepared for postsecondary education; and improving teacher education programs to ensure that graduates are prepared for the classroom. This bill revises the above-described provisions to require THEC to construct a statewide master plan that directs higher education to be accountable for increasing the educational attainment levels of Tennesseans. This bill also requires THEC, in consultation with the respective governing boards, to approve institutional mission statements concurrent with the adoption of each revised statewide master plan. Each institutional mission statement must characterize the institution's distinctiveness in degree offerings and address institutional accountability.

This act revises various requirements of the commissioner of labor and workforce development and owners or operators of amusement devices. This bill requires that an operator of an amusement device: Be at least 18 years of age; be qualified to set up, operate, maintain, and dismantle the device in a safe manner as determined by the board by rule; not operate more than one device at any one time; and be in attendance at all times the amusement device is in operation. Additionally, this act authorizes a person suffering an injury arising out of an accident involving an amusement device, in addition to any other remedies, to bring a cause of action against both the owner and the operator of the device

This act revises law to increase the estate of any law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty, with the payment made from the general fund. This act increases the death benefit from $25,000 to $100,000. Additionally, this act requires that after completion of an investigation by the TBI into an officer-involved shooting death and after the completion of the prosecutorial function by the district attorney general, the investigative record must become a public record.

This act revises various provisions regarding student accountability measures due to the implementation of the federal law The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This includes revising the way the state board of education and the department of education determine the performance level of a school.

This act relates to juvenile criminal justice. This act specifies that the juvenile records to which an expunction applies includes all documents, reports, and information received, kept, or maintained in any form, including electronic, by the juvenile court clerk or juvenile court staff relating to a delinquency or unruly case, with the exception of assessment reports.

This act creates the Tennessee middle college scholarship, and expands eligibility for the Tennessee HOPE scholarship to students who complete middle college. The act then explains qualifications for the scholarships and how to maintain scholarship, along with further minute details.

This act would require the commissioner to report, by January 1, 2018, and each January 1 thereafter, the following information regarding franchise and excise tax credits claimed for tax periods ending during the previous fiscal year: The number of taxpayers claiming the credit; The total amount of credit claimed; The number of jobs created during the fiscal year as reported by the taxpayer, if the credit is awarded based on jobs created; The total amount of credit carried forward from a prior tax year; and the nature of business of the taxpayers claiming the credit, if the nature of the business is available.