Lazaro Aleman
news@greenepublishing.com
A new law on domestic violence that went into effect in Tennessee on Thursday, Jan. 1, may set a precedent for other states and possibly shift the conversation on domestic violence, experts say.
Savanna’s Law, which Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed in May 2025, is named after Savanna Puckett, a 22-year-old Robertson County deputy who was fatally shot in early 2022 by an ex-boyfriend who reportedly had a documented history of domestic violence.
The new law creates a domestic offender registry that is intended to raise public awareness and address repeat domestic violence incidents by making accessible to the public limited information about offenders who qualify for inclusion in the registry.
Maintained by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), the public registry is limited to persistent domestic violence offenders, defined as individuals who have been convicted of a domestic abuse offense and who have at least one prior such conviction. The idea is to increase transparency and help prevent future violence involving repeat offenders.
Although the TBI maintains the database, it does not independently verify any of the information listed on it, according to its website. The information contained in the registry is provided by the appropriate clerks in each of the state’s counties.
According to published reports, although the offense triggering inclusion in the registry must occur on or after January 2026, “prior conviction may still be considered, even if they occurred before the law took effect.” Essentially, the registry is designed to focus on repeat domestic violence offenders, not first-time convictions.
The identifying information to be found in the registry is limited to the individual’s name, date of birth, county or counties where convictions took place, the dates of the qualifying convictions, and a photo of the person, if available.
The law does not allow the publication of sensitive personal information, such as a person’s home address, Social Security Number, or the like, according to published reports.
The length of time that a person’s information remains on the registry varies, depending on their conviction history, newspaper reports indicate. For one prior conviction, the time on the registry is five years; for two prior convictions, it’s seven years; for three prior convictions, it’s 10 years; and for four or more, it’s 20 years.
The idea is to impress on repeat abusers that beyond fines and/or jail time, their information will be listed on the registry and it could affect their employment, housing and personal reputation.