NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Tennessee Senate and House unanimously passed a bill Monday that would change how school threats are handled, sending the legislation to Governor Bill Lee's desk to be signed into law.
Following the Covenant School shooting in 2023, state lawmakers made any threat of mass violence against a school a felony. Tennessee's school threat laws are currently among the strictest in the country.
However, not everyone arrested under the current law posed a credible threat. In 2025, Kyle Caldwell’s son was arrested for reposting a threat online, thinking it would help others.
"He is just a great kid, no history, no trouble," Kyle Caldwell said. "But out of innocence, his idea was that he was informing."
Under a new bill introduced by State Rep. Clay Doggett (R-Pulaski) in the House and State Sen. Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) in the Senate, school administrators would decide whether a threat is credible before referring it to the legal system. All threats would still be investigated.
"They know these kids, they’re with them every day — day in and day out. And they can recognize what is credible and who has the means, the motive, the opportunities to accomplish these threats," Doggett said in an interview with NewsChannel 5.
State Sen. Haile described a scenario, during committee debate, where a child with special needs, was arrested for a comment made out of frustration.
"The school's threat assessment team deemed the threat was not credible. Despite this, he was convicted of the felony offense, is on court probation and has been moved to homebound instruction after feeling alienated by his peers," Haile told lawmakers.
The current laws have also impacted people outside of school buildings. In 2025, Larry Bushart was arrested in Perry County over a meme quoting President Trump.
The meme was posted after the death of Charlie Kirk and referenced a mass shooting at Perry High School in Iowa.
"That led people to believe in our county that he’s talking about Perry County High School, because it doesn’t say Iowa either," Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems told us last year.
Bushart's charges were eventually dropped, but Doggett's bill would have applied the same credibility test to his post. Doggett hopes the bill strikes the right balance by taking threats seriously without unnecessarily ruining someone's life.
"Of course, it turns lives upside down if someone just made an offhand comment," Doggett said.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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