Tennessee legislation intended to facilitate private sector horse processing development in that state has been put on hold by its sponsor.

The legislation, HB 3619, would have instructed circuit or chancery courts to require a surety from anyone who files a court action challenging permits or licenses issued to processing plant developers. The bill set the bond's value at 20% of the facility's estimated construction cost, or 20% of an existing facility's operational cost. Also under the bill, those who bring cases that the courts deem without merit would have been ordered to pay attorney fees and court costs connected to the case. Those who lose their cases connected to functioning plants could have been be liable for operators' case-related financial losses.

Tennessee House Agriculture Committee members passed HB 3619 on March 13; however, some state legislators opposed the bill on grounds that the surety bond requirement contained in the legislation violated the Open Courts and Equal Protection clauses of the state's constitution.

Bill sponsor Tennessee State Rep. Andy Holt said he stripped the surety bond provisions from the bill in late March. On April 3 Tennessee Attorney General Robert E. Cooper published his opinion that the bill's surety bond requirement "leads to the conclusion that the process proposed by HB 3619 to contest the licensure of equine slaughter facilities would likely be held unconstitutional under Tennessee's Open Courts Clause