Bill > HB1662

This bill significantly increases the penalties for various trespass offenses in Tennessee, making them Class C felonies, which are more serious crimes than misdemeanors. Specifically, it elevates aggravated criminal trespass, which involves entering or remaining on property without permission under certain conditions like causing fear, damaging property, or breaching barriers, to a Class C felony. Furthermore, it makes aggravated burglary, which includes committing burglary of a home or aggravated criminal trespass in a home where the trespasser encounters the owner using a firearm for self-defense, a Class C felony. The bill also reclassifies simple criminal trespass and another related trespass offense to Class C felonies, and it will take effect on July 1, 2026, applying to any offenses committed on or after that date.