Title 40, Criminal Procedure

(a) (1) When the defendant has been arrested or held to answer for any bailable offense, the defendant is entitled to be admitted to bail by the committing magistrate, by any judge of the circuit or criminal court, or by the clerk of any circuit or criminal court; provided, that …

(a) If bail has been set, any sheriff, any magistrate or other officer having authority to admit to bail in the county where the defendant is arrested, confined or legally surrendered may take bail in accordance with §§ 40-11-101 — 40-11-144 and release the defendant to appear as…

The committing magistrate or the city court clerk of any incorporated municipality or city or that person's deputies, before whom a defendant is brought for examination on a warrant of arrest, are authorized to take bail, either for the defendant's appearance for examination or f…

If the defendant is committed to jail in default of bail, the committing magistrate or sheriff or the city court clerk of any incorporated municipality or city or the person's deputies may take bail at any time thereafter, for defendant's appearance at the court having cognizance…

After indictment, the sheriff, upon executing the capias or writ of arrest, may take bail from the defendant for the defendant's appearance to answer the charge.

(a) If it appears by affidavit that the testimony of a person is material in any criminal proceeding and if it is shown that the witness has refused or will refuse to respond to process, the court may require the witness to give bail under § 40-11-117 or § 40-11-122 for appearanc…

(a) Individuals who are unable to perform activities of daily living as the result of a severe and persistent mental illness, or individuals who have been adjudicated mentally incompetent, or infants, need not personally make the deposit or execute the bail bond as may be require…

(a) Upon an increase in the amount of bail required, the court having jurisdiction at the time of the increase shall declare a forfeiture and may issue a warrant for the arrest of the defendant. (b) Upon the defendant's failure to comply with any condition of a bail bond or recog…

(a) (1) In the cases in which the defendant may be admitted to bail upon appeal, the order admitting the defendant to bail may be made either by the court wherein the judgment was rendered, or the judge of the rendering court, by the court of criminal appeals, or any judge of the…

(a) Bail, when not given in open court, is given by a written undertaking, containing the conditions of release, the agreement of the defendant to appear in the court having jurisdiction of the offense as directed by the court and/or an amount to be paid for nonappearance, signed…

(a) (1) Any person charged with a bailable offense may, before a magistrate authorized to admit the person to bail, be ordered released pending trial:(A) On the person's personal recognizance;(B) Upon the execution of an unsecured appearance bond in an amount specified by the mag…

(a) If a magistrate determines that conditions of release are necessary, then the magistrate must impose the least onerous conditions reasonably likely to ensure the safety of the community and the defendant's appearance in court. (b) If conditions on release are found necessary,…

If the magistrate determines that a release on recognizance or with conditions will not reasonably ensure the safety of the community and the appearance of the defendant as required, then the magistrate must require bail to be given.

(a) (1) Any defendant for whom bail has been set may execute the bail bond and deposit with the clerk of the court before which the proceeding is pending a sum of money in cash equal to the amount of the bail. The clerk may accept a deposit by means of a debit card or mobile cash…

If the conditions of the bail bond have been performed and the defendant has been discharged from all obligations in the cause, the clerk of the court shall return to the defendant, unless the court orders otherwise, the entire sum which had been deposited.

If the defendant released upon recognizance under § 40-11-115 or posting bail bond under § 40-11-118 does not comply with the conditions of the bail bond, the court having jurisdiction shall enter an order declaring the bail to be forfeited. Notice of the order or forfeiture shal…

If a judgment for fine and court costs, or either, is entered in the prosecution of a cause in which a deposit had been made by defendant, the deposit shall be applied to the payment of the judgment.

(1) In lieu of the bail deposit provided for in § 40-11-118, any defendant for whom bail has been set may execute a bail bond which may be secured as provided in this section. The bail bond may be secured by:(1) Real estate situated in this state with nonexempt unencumbered equit…

(a) Each of the sureties shall be worth the amount expressed in the undertaking, subject to the execution; but the court, magistrate or officer in taking bail may allow more than two (2) sureties to justify severally in amounts less than that expressed in the undertaking, if the …

(a) The clerk, sheriff, municipal courts and other inferior courts shall have available a list of professional bondsmen or other sureties approved and qualified as solvent by the courts of record with criminal jurisdiction within the county. These approved lists shall be provided…

(a) In addition to the requirements of part 3 of this chapter regulating professional bondsmen, licensure of a professional bondsman may be withheld, withdrawn, suspended, revoked, or denied by the board of professional bondsmen if, after investigation, it appears that a professi…

(1) In addition to the criminal sanctions elsewhere provided by law, the following is deemed unprofessional conduct and no bondsman or surety agent shall:(1) Suggest or advise the employment of or name for employment any particular attorney to represent the bondsman's principal;(…

(1) Upon a finding by a district attorney general that a professional bondsman has violated this chapter, the district attorney general may:(1) File a complaint with the board of professional bondsmen that details all violations alleged to have been committed by the professional …

The following persons or classes shall not be bail bondsmen or agents of bail bondsmen or surety companies and shall not directly or indirectly receive any benefits from the execution of any bail bond: jailers, attorneys, police officers, convicted felons, committing magistrates,…

(1) No sureties are discharged by reason of:(1) The want of any of the qualifications required in this part;(2) There not being the requisite number of sureties;(3) Any other agreement than is expressed in the undertaking;(4) Infancy, lunacy or any other incapacity of any of the …

(a) (1) If a defendant in a criminal case executes a bond or recognizance before any court or other person authorized by law to take a bond or recognizance for the defendant's personal appearance before a court to answer a criminal charge and there has not been a disposition purs…

Where a bail bond or recognizance is executed by the accused, it shall be valid and binding on the accused and the accused's sureties for the accused's personal appearance before the court as prescribed by law or, if not payable or conditioned as prescribed by law for the appeara…

(1) At any time, the bail bondsman or surety may surrender the defendant in their exoneration or the defendant may personally surrender to the officer. Surrender by a bail bondsman or surety shall be for good cause including, but not limited to, the following:(1) [Deleted by 2025…

(a) For the purposes of §§ 40-11-132, 40-11-203, and 40-11-204, the bail bondsman or surety may arrest the defendant on a certified copy of the undertaking, at any place either in or out of the state, or may, by written authority endorsed on the certified copy, authorize another …

The bail bondsman or surety is also entitled to the aid of the sheriff of any county in this state in making the arrest, within the bounds of the sheriff's county, by producing a certified copy of the bail bond, and, in person or by agent, accompanying the officer to receive the …

The sheriff making the arrest under § 40-11-134 shall return the copy of the bail bond, with an endorsement of the sheriff's action, in the same manner as the sheriff is required to return a capias.

The surrender shall be made to the sheriff of the county in which the defendant is bound to answer for the offense, whether by change of venue or otherwise, and the sheriff is not bound to accept the surrender unless made at the place of holding the court in that county, or at th…

(a) Upon surrendering the defendant, the bail bondsman or surety shall, as soon as is reasonably practicable, go before any court having jurisdiction authorized to admit to bail, and notify the officer of the surrender. (b) (1) Any court having jurisdiction so notified shall have…

(a) If the conditions of the bail bond have been performed and the defendant has been discharged from the defendant's obligations in the cause, the clerk of the court shall return to the bondsman the deposit of any cash. If the bail has been secured by real estate, the clerk of t…

(a) If the defendant whose release is secured under § 40-11-122 does not comply with the conditions of the bail bond, the court having jurisdiction shall enter an order declaring the bail to be forfeited. Notice of the order of forfeiture shall be immediately sent by regular mail…

(a) (1) If judgment is entered in favor of the state on any bail bond, the district attorney general shall have execution issued on the judgment and delivered immediately to the sheriff to be executed by levy on the cash deposited with the clerk of the court or on the real estate…

(a) A defendant released before trial shall continue on release during trial or release pending trial under the same terms and conditions as were previously imposed, unless the court determines pursuant to § 40-11-137 or § 40-11-144 that other terms and conditions or termination …

(a) After an officer arrests a person, but prior to the determination of bail for the arrest offense by the judge or magistrate, due diligence must be exercised in determining the existence of any prior arrest or conviction. The results of this investigation must be made a part o…

A motion for a change in bail or other conditions of release shall be by written motion, served upon opposing counsel or upon the defendant personally if the defendant is not represented by counsel, within a time reasonable under the circumstances before the hearing on the motion…

(a) The actions by a trial court from which an appeal lies to the supreme court or court of criminal appeals in granting, denying, setting or altering conditions of the defendant's release shall be reviewable in the manner provided in the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure. (…

(1) As used in this section and § 40-11-146, “guaranteed arrest or bail bond certificate” means a printed card or other certificate issued by an association to any of its members, which is signed by the member and contains a printed statement that the association and the surety c…

A guaranteed arrest or bail bond certificate presented by the person whose signature appears thereon shall be accepted in lieu of cash bail in an amount not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) as an arrest or bail bond to guarantee the appearance of the person in any court i…

(1) A defendant arrested in one county on a warrant issued in another county for the commission of an offense for which the maximum punishment is imprisonment for ten (10) years or less is entitled to be admitted to bail in the county of arrest by the same officials and in the sa…

(a) If a defendant has been released pursuant to § 40-11-115 or § 40-11-116, or has been admitted to and released on bail for a criminal offense, whether prior to or during trial or pending appeal, and the defendant is charged with the commission of one (1) or more bailable offen…

(a) It is an offense for an attorney practicing in any of the courts of this state to sign any bond, or enter into any recognizance, as surety for the appearance of any person, other than a member of the attorney's immediate family, in any criminal case pending against the person…

(a) In addition to the factors set out in § 40-11-118, in making a decision concerning the amount of bail required for the release of a defendant who is arrested for the offense of child abuse, child neglect, or child endangerment, as defined in § 39-15-401; the offense of aggrav…