(The Center Square) — The Tennessee Legislature is close to passing a bill that would require anyone convicted of driving under the influence in a case that kills the parent of a minor child to pay restitution toward those children.

House Bill 1834 passed the House unanimously on Feb. 28 and then a slightly amended version, changing an apostrophe in the language, passed the Senate unanimously this week. The bill is now set for the House message calendar on Monday before it heads to the desk of Gov. Bill Lee.

"What this amendment will do is require the person who has been convicted of a DUI to be financially responsible for the minor children who survive the parent who was killed," said bill sponsor Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville.

Bell explained that the bill was modeled off a bill from Missouri called Bentley’s law.

In Tennessee, the name of the law was changed to Ethan's, Hailey's, and Bentley's Law in recognition of the children of Chattanooga Police Officer Nicholas Galinger, who was killed on Feb. 24, 2019, "by drunk driver while removing debris from a road drain," Bell explained.

Bell said that restitution is already possible in civil courts but this bill will make the restitution possible in criminal court.