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Ballot Explained

Tennessee ballot measure · November 3, 2026

Tennessee Amendment 1, explained

Remove the right to bail for certain offenses. A ballot measure is a yes-or-no question put directly to voters — no candidate is involved, and the wording on the ballot is the wording that becomes law. This page shows that wording first, then what it actually changes.

The official wordingWhat appears on the ballot. Everything below explains it.
Shall Article I, Section 15 of the Constitution of Tennessee be amended by deleting the following: That all prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, unless for capital offences, when the proof is evident, or the presumption great. And the privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in case of rebellion or invasion, the General Assembly shall declare the public safety requires it. and substituting instead the following: (a) All prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient sureties unless for the following when the proof is evident or the presumption great: (1) A capital offense; (2) An act of terrorism; (3) Second degree murder; (4) Aggravated rape of a child; (5) Aggravated rape; (6) Grave torture; and (7) Any other offense for which, as of November 3, 2026, a defendant, if convicted, could not be released prior to the expiration of at least eighty-five percent of the entire sentence imposed. (b) In any case in which bail for an offense listed in subsection (a) is granted or denied before conviction, the judge or magistrate shall place in the record the judge's or magistrate's reasons for granting or denying bail. (c) The privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in case of rebellion or invasion, the General Assembly shall declare the public safety requires it. ☐ Yes ☐ No

What it actually means

Tennessee's constitution currently guarantees bail to everyone except people charged with a capital offence. This amendment would add six more categories — terrorism, second degree murder, aggravated rape, aggravated rape of a child, grave torture, and any crime carrying a requirement to serve at least 85% of a sentence — where a judge could refuse bail outright, if the proof is evident or the presumption of guilt is great. It also requires a judge to state on the record why bail was granted or denied in those cases. The official ballot summary describes it as "allowing a court to hold a defendant without bail before trial" for those offences.

Y

If you vote YES

  • Judges could deny bail entirely for a capital offence, an act of terrorism, second degree murder, aggravated rape, aggravated rape of a child, grave torture, and any offence carrying an 85%-service requirement — but only where the proof is evident or the presumption of guilt is great.
  • The 85% category is broad: it takes in aggravated assault with a deadly weapon or causing serious bodily injury, voluntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, burglary and arson, human trafficking for forced labour, possession of a firearm during a dangerous felony, and repeat Class A, B or C drug felonies.
  • The list is frozen as it stood on November 3, 2026, so a later change to sentencing law would not widen it.
  • In any of those cases, a judge or magistrate would have to put the reasons for granting or denying bail in the record — a requirement that does not exist now.
  • The habeas corpus clause is carried over unchanged.
N

If you vote NO

  • Article I, Section 15 keeps its current guarantee: "all prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, unless for capital offences."
  • Judges would keep the only tool they have now for a defendant they consider dangerous — setting bail high enough that it cannot be met, plus conditions of release — rather than denying bail outright.
  • No reasons would have to be recorded when bail is granted or denied.
  • Any change to who can be held before trial would have to come from the General Assembly within the existing constitutional limit, or from another amendment.
The numbers that matter
Offences for which bail can be denied now
Capital offences only

Article I, Section 15, Tennessee Constitution

Categories added
6, plus the existing capital offence category

Text of the amendment as printed on the ballot

Sentence-service threshold that defines the widest category
85%

Tennessee's Truth in Sentencing law, as it stood on November 3, 2026

Votes needed to pass
A majority of the total votes cast in the governor's race

Article XI, Section 3, Tennessee Constitution

What each side says3 for, 3 against — quoted, not summarised

Why supporters say YES

  • "People are sick of hearing stories about innocent people being killed, raped, or severely injured by someone who's out on bond."

    — Verna Wyatt, co-founder, Tennessee Voices for Victims

  • "We are routinely number one, number two, or number three in terms of the most violent states in the union. For years, we've heard criminal justice reform advocates tell us that jails are for the people that we're afraid of, and not angry at. These are the people that we're afraid of, and they should be incapacitated."

    — Stephen Crump, executive director, Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference

  • "Our number one job up here is public safety, and it is to equip our court system with the tools they need to keep our community safe. Unfortunately, they don't have those tools right now, or all that they need. They're hamstrung by the constitution."

    — State Sen. Jack Johnson (R-27)

Why opponents say NO

  • "The Tennessee Constitution is not the problem. Judges have plenty of discretion as it stands to make bail decisions. They have discretion to set unaffordable bail in certain circumstances as long as they follow the law and the Constitution."

    — Josh Spickler, executive director, Just City Memphis

  • "Taking away the right to bail without clear guardrails risks holding people who haven't been convicted and pressuring them into guilty pleas just so they can get out."

    — State Sen. Heidi Campbell (D-20)

  • "Judges are imperfect people with their own biases as well that they bring into the courtroom, and there can again be a disproportionate harm on poor folks, a disproportionate harm on Black folks, on Latino folks."

    — State Rep. Justin Pearson (D-86)

What's genuinely uncertain
  • "Grave torture" and "act of terrorism" are not defined in the amendment, and how they map onto existing Tennessee offences would have to be worked out.
  • The threshold — "the proof is evident, or the presumption great" — is carried over from the capital offence rule, but how courts would apply it across a much longer list of crimes is untested.
  • Whether holding more defendants before trial improves public safety is disputed. Jeffrey Clayton of the American Bail Coalition, which opposes the amendment, says "there's been no academic research that supports the use of preventative detention as a defective crime control policy."
  • No estimate has been published of how many defendants a year would be affected, or of the cost of holding them.
  • No campaign committee had registered on either side, so there is no campaign finance record to indicate who is spending on this.

The bottom line

Whether judges should be able to hold someone without bail before trial for a much longer list of serious charges — detention of people prosecutors call dangerous, set against jailing people not yet convicted and the pressure that puts on them to plead.

One neutral sentence describing the tradeoff — not a recommendation.

Sources (2)The numbers in the text above link here
  1. 1Tennessee Amendment 1, Remove Right to Bail for Certain Criminal Offenses Measure (2026) — Ballotpedia — ballotpedia.org
  2. 2Tennessee 2026 ballot measures — Ballotpedia — ballotpedia.org

Checking it against the official text

The Tennessee Secretary of State publishes the certified measures and, in most states, an official voter guide with fiscal notes. That is the authoritative version. Everything here is an explanation of it, not a substitute for it.

Confirm this with the official source

Your ballot is determined by your election authority, not by us. Verify your registration, precinct, and sample ballot at Tennessee Secretary of State.

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