Texting laws · Tennessee
Tennessee texting laws for businesses
What Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 65-4-401 to 65-4-408, as amended by 2023 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 126 says about a business texting customers in Tennessee, read from the statute.
Texting laws by stateStatute read November 14, 2026
The law
| Law | Tennessee telephone and text message solicitation law |
| Citation | Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 65-4-401 to 65-4-408, as amended by 2023 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 126 |
| In force | Text message provisions effective July 1, 2023 (Public Chapter 126, SB 868), for solicitations on or after that date |
| Covers texts? | Yes, by name. Public Chapter 126 added a definition of 'text message solicitation' to § 65-4-401: 'a text communication over a telephone originating from this state or elsewhere that' promotes or encourages the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods or services. |
| Allowed hours | 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. without the subscriber's permission, and the statute names texts in this rule. |
| Applies to | Telephone and text message solicitations to residential subscribers in Tennessee. A text is a solicitation if it 'Promotes or encourages, directly or indirectly, the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services', or refers the subscriber to another person for that purpose. |
The rules
| Rule | What the statute says | Section |
|---|---|---|
| State do-not-call list | A person or entity 'shall not knowingly make or cause to be made a telephone or text message solicitation' to a residential subscriber who has told the commission they object to receiving such solicitations. | § 65-4-404 |
| Hours | Without the residential subscriber's permission, a person making a telephone or text message solicitation 'shall not call or text the subscriber at any time other than between the hours of eight o'clock a.m. (8:00 a.m.) to nine o'clock p.m. (9:00 p.m.), prevailing time'. | § 65-4-402 |
| Identify yourself | At the beginning of the call or text, the sender must 'state clearly the identity of the person initiating the call and the entity or organization the person represents'. | § 65-4-402 |
| Caller ID | A person making a telephone or text message solicitation may not knowingly use any method to block or circumvent the subscriber's caller identification service. | § 65-4-403 |
Texting a customer who contacted you first
- 'Text message solicitation' does not include a text to a residential subscriber '(i) With the subscriber's prior express permission' or to one '(iii) Who is an existing customer', which the Act says includes a subscriber 'with whom the person or entity making a text message solicitation has had a prior relationship within the prior twelve (12) months' (§ 65-4-401, as added by Pub. Ch. 126 § 1).
- It also excludes a text made on behalf of a business when a direct employee sends it, it is not part of a telecommunications marketing plan, the business reasonably believes the specific person is considering buying its product or service, the business does not sell or engage in telemarketing services, and the business sends no more than 'a total of three (3) such text communications in any one (1) calendar week'.
- The statute does not say whether a person calling the business counts as 'prior express permission' to receive a text back, and it does not separately address non-sales or transactional texts.
This matters for missed-call text-back, which replies to someone who just called the business. Federal rules and the reply-versus-marketing line are covered in is missed-call text-back legal?
Penalties
Penalties and any private lawsuit are set in sections of the law we could not read from an official source, so this page does not cover them. Public Chapter 126 extended § 65-4-405 and § 65-4-408 to 'telephone or text message solicitations' without restating those sections.
What the statute does not settle
- This page was written from Public Chapter 126 (2023) as signed, published by the Tennessee Secretary of State. The codified Tennessee Code is published on a LexisNexis site that requires accepting its terms, which we did not do, so the rest of §§ 65-4-401 to 65-4-408 (including the definition of 'residential subscriber', the penalty provisions, and any amendment after 2023) was not read.
- The Act leaves the new definition's subdivision number blank ('()'), so this page cites § 65-4-401 without a subdivision.
- Whether 'residential subscriber' includes a cell phone number is set in a part of § 65-4-401 we did not read.
- The statute does not say what form 'prior express permission' must take, or whether a call or inquiry from the person gives it.
Questions
Does Tennessee law cover text messages from businesses?
Yes, by name. Public Chapter 126 added a definition of 'text message solicitation' to § 65-4-401: 'a text communication over a telephone originating from this state or elsewhere that' promotes or encourages the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods or services.
What happens if a business breaks Tennessee's texting law?
Penalties and any private lawsuit are set in sections of the law we could not read from an official source, so this page does not cover them. Public Chapter 126 extended § 65-4-405 and § 65-4-408 to 'telephone or text message solicitations' without restating those sections.
Can a business text a customer who contacted it first in Tennessee?
'Text message solicitation' does not include a text to a residential subscriber '(i) With the subscriber's prior express permission' or to one '(iii) Who is an existing customer', which the Act says includes a subscriber 'with whom the person or entity making a text message solicitation has had a prior relationship within the prior twelve (12) months' (§ 65-4-401, as added by Pub. Ch. 126 § 1). It also excludes a text made on behalf of a business when a direct employee sends it, it is not part of a telecommunications marketing plan, the business reasonably believes the specific person is considering buying its product or service, the business does not sell or engage in telemarketing services, and the business sends no more than 'a total of three (3) such text communications in any one (1) calendar week'. The statute does not say whether a person calling the business counts as 'prior express permission' to receive a text back, and it does not separately address non-sales or transactional texts.
Is missed-call text-back legal in Tennessee?
Missed-call text-back sends an automatic text to someone who just called the business. On replying to a person who contacted the business first, Tennessee's law says this: 'Text message solicitation' does not include a text to a residential subscriber '(i) With the subscriber's prior express permission' or to one '(iii) Who is an existing customer', which the Act says includes a subscriber 'with whom the person or entity making a text message solicitation has had a prior relationship within the prior twelve (12) months' (§ 65-4-401, as added by Pub. Ch. 126 § 1). Federal rules apply as well, and what the text says matters: a plain reply to the call is treated differently from a marketing message. This is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
Read November 14, 2026. Federal law (the TCPA and FCC rules) applies on top of state law everywhere. This page describes what the statute says. It is general information, not legal advice, and it does not cover your message content or your industry. Talk to a lawyer before relying on it.