Nonprofit compliance in Tennessee

Tennessee mandates background checks for volunteers in organizations serving vulnerable populations — including mental health, developmental disability, substance abuse, childcare, and healthcare settings — under multiple statutes. Schools may (but are not required by state law to) conduct checks on volunteers; coaches at school athletic programs must comply with fingerprint requirements. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) processes all state criminal history checks.

• Tennessee Code Annotated § 33-2-1202 (T.C.A. § 33-2-1202 (amended 2024 Tenn. Acts ch. 688, eff. July 1, 2024)) — Requires organizations licensed under Title 33 (mental health, developmental disability, substance abuse services) to complete criminal background checks on any employee or volunteer with direct contact or direct responsibility for service recipients before allowing any such contact.
• Tennessee Code Annotated § 49-5-413 (T.C.A. § 49-5-413 (2024)) — Authorizes local boards of education and charter schools to require state and national criminal history checks on contract workers and school volunteers. Mandates that all coaches — whether employed or volunteer — comply with background check and fingerprinting requirements for school youth athletic activities.
• Tennessee Code Annotated § 68-140-325 (T.C.A. § 68-140-325 (2024)) — Requires criminal background checks as a condition for employment or volunteer service in healthcare facilities including hospitals, nursing homes, and home health care agencies. Organizations must also check the Department of Health registry and may not use any individual listed on it.
• Tennessee Code Annotated § 71-2-105 / § 71-2-111 (T.C.A. §§ 71-2-105(b)(1), 71-2-111(b)) — Governs background check requirements for employees and volunteers providing direct care or supervision of vulnerable adults in long-term care and adult protective services settings.
• Who it reaches: Volunteers with direct contact with mental health, developmental disability, or substance abuse service recipients (T.C.A. § 33-2-1202); Volunteer coaches and contract workers for school youth athletic activities (T.C.A. § 49-5-413); Volunteers in hospitals, nursing homes, and home health care agencies (T.C.A. § 68-140-325); Volunteers providing direct care to vulnerable adults in long-term care settings (T.C.A. § 71-2-111); Volunteers at youth residential and faith-based organizations with unsupervised contact with children.
• Check types in use: State criminal history check via Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI); National fingerprint-based check via FBI; Tennessee Department of Health registry check; Sex offender registry check; Child abuse and neglect registry check (for childcare-related roles).
• Administered by: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) — Criminal History Records Unit; supplemented by TBI RAP Back program for ongoing monitoring.
• Typical processing: 2–4 weeks for full TBI + FBI fingerprint check; name-based state-only checks faster.

Yes. Tennessee names certain professionals AND requires any person to report, regardless of profession — so your volunteers are covered by the universal provision whatever role they hold. Confirm Tennessee's current statute before writing your policy — these are amended often.

• In every state, territory and the District of Columbia, ANY person is permitted to report suspected abuse even when not required to. A volunteer who is not a mandated reporter can still call, and should.
• The safest operating posture, whatever the statute says, is to train every volunteer on what to report and to whom — a policy that only trains "mandated" staff leaves the person most likely to witness something untrained.
• Reporting duties are personal. A volunteer who is a mandated reporter cannot discharge the duty by telling a supervisor and stopping there in most states.
• Screening and reporting are different obligations. Clearing a background check does not satisfy a reporting duty, and no reporting policy substitutes for screening.

Tennessee is one of the 40 states that generally require a charitable organization to register before soliciting contributions from its residents — typically before the first ask, not after the first gift, and usually with an annual renewal.

• Registration is generally required before soliciting, including by mail, phone, email, or a public donate page.
• Soliciting residents of other states can trigger registration in those states regardless of where you are based — an online donate button reaches all fifty.
• Exemptions exist in most registering states (small organizations, religious organizations, membership appeals) but they are specific and usually must be claimed rather than assumed.
• Confirm current requirements with your state charity office before relying on this — thresholds and exemptions are amended frequently.

These apply regardless of which state you operate in, and they are the ones most commonly missed by small organizations that assume state registration is the whole picture.

• Annual Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-N. Three consecutive years of non-filing revokes exempt status automatically — this is the single most common way small nonprofits lose their status.
• If you run background checks on volunteers, the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies to you as a user of consumer reports: a standalone written disclosure, separate written authorization, and the pre-adverse and adverse action sequence before acting on a result.
• Public disclosure: your exemption application and recent 990s must be made available on request.
• Employment obligations attach to paid staff regardless of exempt status — payroll tax, worker classification, and wage and hour law all apply.