Richard M. Briggs

Briggs sponsored Senate Bill 359, enacted in 2025, allowing confidential private advocacy orders that require certain healthcare-license applicants to participate in approved peer-assistance programs.

May 13, 2025Supports Healthcare Affordability

Source: wapp.capitol.tn.gov · researched July 18, 2026

Briggs sponsored Senate Bill 624, enacted in 2026, generally prohibiting a local elected official from simultaneously holding another elected office in Tennessee.

March 23, 2026Supports Anti-Corruption

Source: wapp.capitol.tn.gov · researched July 18, 2026

Voted to pass HB 618, which bars a person from holding two local elected offices at the same time. The Tennessee Senate passed it 21-10, and it became law.

February 26, 2026Supports Anti-Corruption

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 6, 2026

Wrote a campaign-finance law the governor signed (Senate Bill 229, Public Chapter 415). It charged registered political campaign committees a $150 yearly fee starting in 2026 and raised, from $100 to $250, the value of food and invitations allowed before it counts as a contribution.

May 15, 2025Supports Anti-Corruption

Source: wapp.capitol.tn.gov · researched July 18, 2026

Briggs sponsored Senate Bill 623, enacted in 2025, requiring the Office of Open Records Counsel to facilitate meetings of the Advisory Committee on Open Government.

May 13, 2025Supports Anti-Corruption

Source: wapp.capitol.tn.gov · researched July 18, 2026

Voted to pass HB 773, which requires websites carrying official legal notices to be free to view. The Tennessee Senate passed it 23-8, and it became law.

April 22, 2025Supports Anti-Corruption

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 6, 2026

Voted to adopt the compromise version of SB 229, which charges political campaign committees a $150 yearly fee. The Tennessee Senate adopted it 23-6, and it became law.

April 22, 2025Supports Anti-Corruption

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 6, 2026

Briggs sponsored Senate Bill 1944, enacted in 2026, authorizing local governmental bodies to conduct certain community meetings electronically.

May 18, 2026Supports Government Efficiency

Source: wapp.capitol.tn.gov · researched July 18, 2026

Voted to pass HB 2219, which requires every county sheriff to sign a federal 287(g) immigration enforcement deal. The Tennessee Senate passed it 24-7, and it became law.

April 23, 2026Opposes Immigration

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 6, 2026

Voted to accept the House's version of Senate Bill 1915, which makes counties and cities verify adult benefit applicants are citizens or legally present. The Senate agreed 24-6 and it became law as Public Chapter 1106.

April 22, 2026Opposes Immigration

Source: legiscan.com · researched August 27, 2026

Voted to pass HB 2502, which applies sales tax to sending money abroad through a licensed money transmitter. The Tennessee Senate passed it 21-7, and it became law.

April 16, 2026Opposes Immigration

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 6, 2026

Voted to pass SB 6002, which creates a state immigration enforcement office directing how local police work with federal agents. The Tennessee Senate passed it 26-7, and it became law.

January 29, 2025Opposes Immigration

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 6, 2026

Briggs sponsored Senate Bill 2285, enacted in 2026, requiring school safety plans when an order of protection separates two students enrolled at the same public school.

May 4, 2026Supports Public Safety and Crime Control

Source: wapp.capitol.tn.gov · researched July 18, 2026

Briggs sponsored Senate Bill 1415, enacted in 2025, creating felony penalties for knowingly exposing a child to fentanyl or related analogues.

May 27, 2025Supports Public Safety and Crime Control

Source: wapp.capitol.tn.gov · researched July 18, 2026

Briggs sponsored Senate Bill 940, enacted in 2025, extending overdose-related immunity from prosecution to specified alcohol offenses.

April 29, 2025Supports Public Safety and Crime Control

Source: wapp.capitol.tn.gov · researched July 18, 2026

Voted to pass SB 1868, which caps state custody of a child for treatment at six months, extendable once. The Tennessee Senate passed it 22-11, and it became law.

April 15, 2026Supports Social Programs and Welfare

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 6, 2026

Voted for House Bill 1093, which raises the penalty for machine gun conversion parts to a Class C felony. The Tennessee Senate passed it 23-8, and it became law.

April 22, 2025Supports Gun Control

Source: legiscan.com · researched August 27, 2026

Briggs sponsored Senate Bill 1004, enacted in 2025, clarifying the medical-emergency language in Tennessee's criminal-abortion statute.

April 29, 2025Supports Women's Reproductive Rights

Source: wapp.capitol.tn.gov · researched July 18, 2026

Briggs co-sponsored Tennessee's 2019 abortion trigger law and later acknowledged he had barely read it and did not expect it to take effect; after it did, he pushed to clarify medical exceptions and protections for patients and doctors.

November 15, 2022Opposes Women's Reproductive Rights

Source: propublica.org · researched July 18, 2026

Briggs sponsored Senate Bill 621, enacted in 2025, expanding campaign-finance reporting rules for corporate independent expenditures that expressly support or oppose candidates.

May 15, 2025Supports Election Integrity

Source: wapp.capitol.tn.gov · researched July 18, 2026

Briggs sponsored Senate Bill 626, enacted in 2025, prohibiting internet-connected voting machines and internet submission or tabulation of marked ballots while revising other election procedures.

May 13, 2025Supports Election Integrity

Source: wapp.capitol.tn.gov · researched July 18, 2026

Voted to pass HB 1271, which requires cities and counties to define sex and gender in their rules by physical traits at birth. The Tennessee Senate passed it 24-6, and it became law.

April 22, 2026Opposes Civil Rights

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 6, 2026

Voted to pass HB 601, which opens a late-stage innocence appeal to people who pleaded guilty. The Tennessee Senate passed it 24-6, and it became law.

April 10, 2025Supports Civil Rights

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 6, 2026

Voted for the Senate version of Senate Bill 336, which changed the child support condition for restoring voting rights to twelve months of compliance. The Senate passed it 24-8, and a later House rewrite became law.

April 10, 2025Supports Civil Rights

Source: legiscan.com · researched August 27, 2026

Voted to pass HB 1237, which bars race-based rules for who sits on state boards. The Tennessee Senate passed it 24-6, and it became law.

March 31, 2025Opposes Civil Rights

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 6, 2026

Briggs sponsored Senate Bill 621, enacted in 2025, expanding campaign-finance reporting rules for corporate independent expenditures that expressly support or oppose candidates.

May 15, 2025Supports Corporate Accountability

Source: wapp.capitol.tn.gov · researched July 18, 2026

Briggs sponsored Senate Bill 306, enacted in 2025, allowing administrative dissolution of entities that knowingly file materially false information or are controlled by a designated foreign adversary.

April 8, 2025Supports Corporate Accountability

Source: wapp.capitol.tn.gov · researched July 18, 2026

Briggs sponsored Senate Bill 1922, enacted in 2026, requiring state and local government employers to verify prospective employees' work authorization through E-Verify.

April 27, 2026

Source: wapp.capitol.tn.gov · researched July 18, 2026

Voted against Senate Bill 2040, which bars an owner from controlling a pharmacy plus both a health insurer and drug-benefit manager from 2028. The Tennessee Senate passed it 24-9, and it became law.

April 20, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched August 27, 2026

Voted against HB 1971, which narrows the law letting people ask a court to declare a government action unlawful to local bodies. The Tennessee Senate passed it 18-13, and it became law.

April 2, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 6, 2026

Voted against HB 1194, which extends the work authorization law to almost every private employer. The Tennessee Senate passed it 19-13, and it became law.

March 12, 2026

Source: legiscan.com · researched September 6, 2026

Briggs won the 2022 District 7 general election with 32,925 votes against Bryan Langan's 19,894.

November 8, 2022

Source: sos-prod.tnsosgovfiles.com · researched July 18, 2026

Briggs retired as a colonel in the United States Army after service that included work as a combat surgeon and commander.

November 4, 2014

Source: onyourballot.vote411.org · researched July 18, 2026

Before joining the Senate, Briggs served seven years on the Knox County Commission and held leadership roles with a local medical society and hospital board.

November 4, 2014

Source: onyourballot.vote411.org · researched July 18, 2026