Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-1-209

This is the official text of Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-1-209, part of Tennessee’s Code Ann — part of the compiled statutory law of Tennessee, published by the state as "Code Ann." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Designation of nonessential workers limited

Official statutory text

(a) This section shall be known as "The Essential Workers Act." (b) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a local governmental entity or the executive head of a local government shall not, by executive order, ordinance, or resolution, create categories or classes of nonessential businesses, trades, professions, or industries for the purpose of suspending lawful commerce, encumbering trade, or denying citizens the right to work if such activities are otherwise lawful in this state, unless an explicit order of the local fire marshal or a court of competent jurisdiction declares that the business operating poses a clear and present danger to the citizenry of this state. Added by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 384,s 1, eff. 5/11/2021.
(a) This section shall be known as "The Essential Workers Act."
(b) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a local governmental entity or the executive head of a local government shall not, by executive order, ordinance, or resolution, create categories or classes of nonessential businesses, trades, professions, or industries for the purpose of suspending lawful commerce, encumbering trade, or denying citizens the right to work if such activities are otherwise lawful in this state, unless an explicit order of the local fire marshal or a court of competent jurisdiction declares that the business operating poses a clear and present danger to the citizenry of this state.
Added by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 384,s 1, eff. 5/11/2021.

Status: in_force

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.