Nonprofit compliance in Tennessee

We found no Tennessee statute requiring every nonprofit to screen every volunteer. Criminal checks are mandated for volunteers with direct contact or direct responsibility at licensed mental health and substance abuse services (T.C.A. § 33-2-1202) and at most disability and aging services (T.C.A. § 52-2-1002), and for new volunteers expected to serve more than 20 hours a month in roles with significant contact with children at child care agencies licensed by the Department of Children’s Services (T.C.A. § 37-5-511). Any entity licensed by a state agency under Titles 33, 37, 52, 68 or 71 must check the Abuse Registry before a volunteer serves (T.C.A. § 68-11-1004). Schools must adopt a volunteer background-check policy and, upon Tennessee’s acceptance into the FBI Rap Back program, may require state and national checks (T.C.A. § 49-5-413(g)). The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is the state’s criminal history repository.

• Tennessee Code Annotated § 33-2-1202 (T.C.A. § 33-2-1202 (amended 2024 Tenn. Acts ch. 688, eff. July 1, 2024)) — Requires each facility or service licensed under Title 33, chapter 2, part 4 (mental health and substance abuse services) to complete a criminal background check on any employee or volunteer in a position involving direct contact with or direct responsibility for service recipients before that contact (the statute lists TBI or FBI fingerprints or a state-licensed private investigation company for employment applicants), and to check the Abuse Registry before using a volunteer. Since July 1, 2024, disability and aging services follow the parallel rule in T.C.A. § 52-2-1002.
• Tennessee Code Annotated § 49-5-413 (T.C.A. § 49-5-413, as amended by 2026 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 1040 (eff. July 1, 2026)) — Requires school employees in positions near children to be fingerprinted (TBI and FBI) before employment and at least every five years, and contractors with direct contact to be fingerprinted before contact. Each school board and charter school must adopt a background-check policy for contract workers and volunteers, and upon Tennessee’s acceptance into the FBI Rap Back program may require state and national checks on school volunteers. Separately, T.C.A. § 49-6-3601 requires every school coach, paid or volunteer, to comply with applicable § 49-5-413 requirements.
• Tennessee Code Annotated § 68-11-1004 (T.C.A. § 68-11-1004 (as amended by 2024 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 688, eff. July 1, 2024)) — Requires every state agency under Titles 33, 37, 52, 68 or 71, every entity it licenses, and every contractor providing care to check the Abuse Registry (maintained by the Health Facilities Commission) before a prospective employee or volunteer serves vulnerable persons, who include all children under 18. No listed person may be hired or permitted to volunteer.
• Tennessee Code Annotated § 52-2-1002 (T.C.A. § 52-2-1002 (enacted by 2024 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 688, § 2, eff. July 1, 2024)) — Requires each service licensed under Title 52 (Department of Disability and Aging), each area agency on aging, and each state contractor, grantee or subcontractor for aging and disability services to complete a criminal background check on any employee, subcontractor or volunteer with direct contact with or direct responsibility for persons supported before that contact, and to check the Abuse Registry before using a volunteer. State contractors for residential, day and supported-employment services follow subsection (f) instead: criminal checks for direct-care employees, Abuse Registry checks for applicants and volunteers.
• Who it reaches: Volunteers with direct contact with or direct responsibility for clients of licensed mental health and substance abuse services (T.C.A. § 33-2-1202) or of Title 52-licensed disability and aging services, area agencies on aging and state aging and disability grantees (T.C.A. § 52-2-1002; state residential, day and supported-employment contractors check volunteers against the Abuse Registry only); New volunteers expected to serve more than 20 hours a month in positions where significant contact with children is likely, at child care agencies licensed by the Department of Children’s Services or with DCS itself (T.C.A. § 37-5-511(a)); Prospective volunteers who will serve vulnerable persons, every child under 18 included, at an entity licensed by, or contracting to provide care for, a state agency under Titles 33, 37, 52, 68 or 71: Abuse Registry check before service (T.C.A. § 68-11-1004); Unpaid substitutes at DHS-licensed child care agencies who count toward staffing standards and serve more than 36 hours in a calendar year: fingerprint check before starting (T.C.A. § 71-3-507(a)(1)(B)); School volunteers, under each district’s required volunteer background-check policy; upon Tennessee’s acceptance into the FBI Rap Back program, state and national checks are permitted, not mandated (T.C.A. § 49-5-413(g)).
• Check types in use: State criminal history check via Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI); National fingerprint-based check via FBI; Abuse Registry check (Health Facilities Commission registry of persons who abused, neglected, misappropriated or exploited vulnerable individuals); Sex offender registry check; Review of DCS and DHS indicated-perpetrator records, run by DHS for child care roles (T.C.A. § 71-3-507).
• Administered by: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), the state criminal history repository; fingerprint checks go through TBI’s contractor IdentoGO. The Abuse Registry is maintained by the Health Facilities Commission..
• Typical processing: TBI does not publish a turnaround time. Tennessee-only name check (TORIS) results are provided electronically; fingerprint results go to the requesting agency..

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 39 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.