Governor Bill Lee Lee on Monday signed his criminal justice reform bill.
The first bill is called the Alternatives to Incarceration Act.
The bill replaces the Tennessee Community Act of 1985 and helps local governments look for community-based alternatives to prison.
It also puts caps on the duration of probation and stops a judge from “revoking probation based on one instance of technical violation.”
The other is the governor’s Re-entry Success Act. Its goal is to help prisoners once they have been released.
The bill decreases the amount of time between parole hearings, creates mandatory supervision programs for people getting released from prison and makes it easier for a former convict to apply for any sort of license, certificate or registration.
Both pieces of legislation will take effect on July 1.