NASHVILLE — There’s something to “cheers” about in the latest round of new Tennessee laws going into effect at the beginning of the new year.
Wine sales in grocery stores become legal on Sundays, meaning people will be able to snag a bottle of wine at their local grocery on January 6 — the first Sunday of 2019.
Gov. Bill Haslam signed the bill into law in April. According to the statute, liquor stores were given special permission to begin selling liquor and wine on Sundays first, but grocery stores had to wait until January.
The wine sales change is one of 30 new laws going into effect in the new year. Here’s what else you can expect as of January:
SANCTUARY CITIES BAN: Threatens local governments with the loss of future state economic and community development money if they have “sanctuary policies.” Particularly, it bans policies that restrict compliance with federal immigration detainers for possible deportation of people who were arrested on other charges and then identified as being in the country illegally.
ABORTION ULTRASOUNDS: Requires doctors to offer women who are getting abortions a look at an ultrasound, if one was performed beforehand. Data on if a heartbeat was detected will also now be reported to the Department of Health annually.
SUICIDE PREVENTION: Creates a new state panel to gather suicide data identifying causes and factors in order to prevent suicides and identify suicide prevention resources. Recommendations will be submitted to legislative health committees by January 2020.
OPIOID LIMITS: Limits initial opioid prescriptions to a three-day supply for new patients, with exceptions for major surgeries, cancer, hospice, sickle cell and treatment in certain licensed facilities.
CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE: Law enforcement will now be required to provide formal notices within five days of property seizures of a forfeiture-warrant hearing to the property owners — regardless of whether the person was present at the time the property was taken. Wrongfully seized property must be returned within five days. And for those charged at the scene where assets are seized, those individuals will have a more defined process to get back their items if that property wasn’t involved in a crime.
STATE VEHICLE ABUSE: Requires the state to create a state vehicle abuse hotline and website. State vehicle must also display decals with information about the hotline and website.
