Title 40, Criminal Procedure

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of part 3 of this chapter regulating professional bondsmen, licensure of a professional bondsman may be withheld, withdrawn, suspended, revoked, or denied by the board of professional bondsmen if, after investigation, it appears that a professi…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

Amount of Charges to You. Any person utilizing the services of a professional bail bondsman or bonding agent must receive a copy of the following notice with the person's bail bond. Changes must not be made in the substance of the notice, but minor printing adjustments may be mad…

(a) As used in this part:(1) “Global positioning monitoring system”:(A) Means a system that electronically determines and reports the location of an individual through the use of a transmitter or similar device worn by the individual that transmits latitude and longitude data to …

(a) Any defendant arrested for the offense of unauthorized camping on state property, as defined in § 39-14-414; vandalism, as described in § 39-14-408(b)(1); rioting, as defined in § 39-17-302; aggravated rioting, as defined in § 39-17-303; inciting to riot, as defined in § 39-1…

(a) It is an offense to knowingly violate a condition of release imposed pursuant to this part. (b) A violation of subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor. (c) A defendant shall not be convicted of both a violation of this section and a violation of § 39-13-113(i) if the facts su…

(a) As used in this section, “qualified electronic monitoring provider” and “provider” mean a private entity that has been qualified and approved by the local government entity where the provider seeks to operate and enters into a written contract or agreement with the local gove…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Family,” when used with reference to a person, includes:(A) Any person related to such person within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity; or(B) Any person living in the same household as such person; and(2) “Legal guardian” means a perso…

(a) If the defendant who gives bail or makes a cash deposit as provided in part 1 of this chapter does not appear according to the undertaking, a conditional judgment may be entered against the defendant and the defendant's sureties, or against the defendant alone, in case of a d…

A scire facias shall issue to notify the defendant and the defendant's sureties to show cause why the judgment shall not be made final.

(a) After the liability of the bail bondsman or surety has become fixed by forfeiture, and before payment, the bail bondsman or surety may be exonerated from the liability by the surrender of the defendant and the payment of all costs; but may be exonerated from costs also if, in…

(a) (1) Except as provided in subsection (b), the judges of the general sessions, circuit, criminal and supreme courts may receive, hear and determine the petition of any person who claims relief is merited on any recognizances forfeited, and so lessen or absolutely remit the sam…

Money paid into the treasury by virtue of a judgment of the circuit or criminal court upon a forfeited recognizance shall be refunded to the party paying the same, upon the reversal of the judgment by the supreme court, on appeal or writ of error duly prosecuted. The commissioner…

In all cases where land or lands shall be sold at sheriff's sale for the purpose of collecting the amount due on forfeited appearance bonds in criminal cases, the state shall be authorized to purchase any of the lands. The amount paid by the state for the purchase of the lands sh…

In all cases of sales under execution issued to collect the amount of forfeiture taken upon appearance bonds in criminal cases, it is the duty of the sheriff to send to the district attorney general for the district in which the sale is to be made a copy of the advertisement of t…

The district attorney general for the district in which the sale is to be made shall then determine the amount or amounts which the property should bring at a fair sale, and, if the district attorney general thinks it expedient to do so, shall, in person or by agent, bid the prop…

The district attorney general for the district in which the sale is to be made shall thereupon issue and deliver a certificate to the sheriff of the county conducting the sale, where the land or lands are situated. The certificate shall be in the following words and figures: Stat…

The district attorney general shall issue a separate certificate in duplicate, for each separate plot of land offered for sale by the sheriff under §§ 40-11-206 — 40-11-208 and so purchased by the district attorney general, one (1) copy of the certificate to be delivered to the s…

The sheriff shall receive the certificate in lieu of money, as now provided by law, which certificate the sheriff shall in lieu of money turn over and deliver to the state of Tennessee, or to the county, whichever may be the one entitled to the proceeds of the sale under the exec…

Upon delivery of the certificate by the district attorney general to the sheriff, the sheriff shall issue a deed to the state for the lands so purchased by the state and deliver it to the district attorney general in whose district the purchase is made.

In all cases where the county is entitled to the proceeds of the sale under execution, under sales as provided in §§ 40-11-206 — 40-11-212 after the expiration of the period of redemption provided in § 40-11-215, the commissioner of finance and administration shall issue a deed f…