Tennessee – Charlie Kirk Bills

Summary

In the 114th Tennessee General Assembly (2026 session), lawmakers considered a coordinated set of higher education proposals informally referred to as the “Charlie Kirk bills,” focused on campus speech regulation and campus space designation at public universities. The measures followed Charlie Kirk’s 2025 killing and subsequent campus controversies nationwide involving speech about him, including disciplinary actions, investigations, and litigation. The Tennessee General Assembly, composed of the Senate and House of Representatives, advanced the legislation during its 2026 session beginning in January.

The first major bill to advance was Senate Bill 1741 (SB 1741), the “Charlie Kirk Act,” with House Bill 1476 as its companion. SB 1741 was filed on January 16, 2026, introduced in the Senate on January 21, 2026, and passed the Tennessee Senate on March 26, 2026. It passed the House in April 2026, was sent to Governor Bill Lee, and was enacted into law following gubernatorial approval. The law requires public universities to adopt statewide free expression policies governing invited speakers, student organizations, and campus forums, while also permitting limits on materially disruptive conduct such as protests or walkouts that interfere with scheduled campus events.

Shortly after SB 1741 passed the Senate, Senate Bill 1959 (SB 1959) and House Bill 2025 (HB 2025) were introduced on January 22, 2026. This proposal requires governing boards of public higher education institutions to establish and maintain “Charlie Kirk Memorial Courtyards” on each main campus, designated as spaces for civil discourse and structured debate. HB 2025 advanced in the House in parallel, but SB 1959 did not reach final passage in the Senate and remains unadopted.

During March 2026, additional variations of related proposals referencing broader “Charlie Kirk plaza” or campus debate space requirements circulated alongside the main bills as alternative versions of the memorialization concept.

By late March and April 2026, the legislative package was understood as two components: SB 1741/HB 1476, which became law regulating campus free speech and protest activity, and SB 1959/HB 2025, which addressed memorial courtyards but did not become law. The enacted statute establishes statewide requirements for expressive activity policies at public universities while authorizing institutions to regulate disruptive demonstrations.

The legislation was considered in the context of prior disputes at Tennessee public institutions, including Middle Tennessee State University (disciplinary actions and disputes involving faculty and student expression), the University of Tennessee Knoxville (protest-related controversies and administrative responses), East Tennessee State University (investigations tied to campus expressive activity), Austin Peay State University (student organization and demonstration policy disputes), and Cumberland University (faculty speech and administrative review issues).