Tenn. Code § 33-3-302
Upon receipt of a certificate of the veterans' administration that facilities are available for the care or treatment of a person ordered hospitalized pursuant to chapter 6, part 5 of this title, in any hospital for the care or treatment of persons with mental illness or serious emotional disturbance and that the person is eligible for care or treatment in a veterans' hospital or facility of the agency located in this state, the commissioner may cause the person's transfer to the veterans' hospital or facility of the United States for hospitalization in this state. No person shall be transferred to a veterans' hospital or facility of the United States if the person is confined based on conviction of a criminal offense, or if the person has been acquitted of the charge solely on the ground of mental illness, unless prior to the transfer, the court originally ordering confinement of the person enters an order for the transfer after appropriate motion and hearing. A person transferred to a veterans' hospital or facility shall be considered to be hospitalized by the veterans' administration of the United States under the original order of hospitalization.
T.C.A. § 33-3-302