Tennessee Code Annotated

Tenn. Code Ann. § 33-3-206 (2026)

Duty to predict, warn or take precautions to provide protection - Liability

✓ current as of May 2026

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(a) IF AND ONLY IF:
- (1) A service recipient has communicated to a qualified mental health professional or behavior analyst an:
  - (A) Intent for actual threat of bodily harm against a clearly identified victim, OR
  - (B) Intent for actual threat of bodily harm against a group of people, including, but not limited to, students at a day care or school, people at a place of worship, and members of the service recipient's family, AND
- (2) The qualified mental health professional or behavior analyst, using the reasonable skill, knowledge, and care ordinarily possessed and exercised by the professional's or analyst's specialty under similar circumstances, has determined or reasonably should have determined that the service recipient has the apparent ability to commit such an act and is likely to carry out the threat unless prevented from doing so,
  THEN
- (3) The professional or analyst shall:
  - (A) Take reasonable care to warn of or take precautions to protect the identified victim or group of people from the service recipient's violent behavior, AND
  - (B) Report the threat to:
    - (i) The local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the municipality or county of residence of the service recipient, OR
    - (ii) IF the threat is general and not imminent or clearly identified, 988 or local crisis response service.

(b) A qualified mental health professional or behavior analyst who acts or makes a reasonable attempt to act in accordance with subsection (a) is not liable for damages in a civil action, subject to prosecution in a criminal proceeding, or subject to disciplinary action by a regulatory board for such act or reasonable attempt to act.

(c) Inpatient hospitalization of the service recipient discharges the duty to warn imposed on a qualified mental health professional or behavior analyst by this section.

Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 783,s 1, eff. 4/23/2024.

Acts 1989, ch. 549, § 1; T.C.A., § 33-10-302(a); Acts 2000, ch. 947, § 1; 2001, ch. 334, § 3; 2002, ch. 730, § 17.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 3 cases, 2010–2017 · leading case: Michael Gardner v. United States, 443 F. App'x 70 (6th Cir. 2011).

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Michael Gardner v. United States, 443 F. App'x 70 (6th Cir. 2011). · cites it 2× “Tenn. Code Ann. § 33-3-206 (West 2010). Tennessee also has a common law tort of psychiatric negligence or psychiatric medical malpractice.”

Melissa A. Stewart v. A.K.M. Fakhruddin, M.D. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2010). · cites it 19× “We have concluded that Tenn. Code Ann. § 33-3-206 does not apply in this case and that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment with respect to mother’s and daughter’s negligence claims.”

John F. Pinkard, M.D. v. HCA Health Servs. of Tennessee, Inc. D/B/A Summit Med. Ctr., 545 S.W.3d 443 (2017). “07[3] at 5-25; Tenn. Code Ann. § 33-3-206 (threats of bodily harm); Tenn.”

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