Voter Education Your Court System Tennessee Courts Your Court System Since I'm the Circuit Court Judge for Blount County who hears all of the felony criminal cases, this short introduction to the court system focuses on the procedure presently followed in criminal cases. This introduction is just for your general background information, by the way - it doesn't describe any exceptions, rules or nuances in the law which may apply to a particular case or person. If you or someone you love is ever called to court, there is no substitute for the assistance of competent legal counsel. To many citizens the workings of the court system can seem pretty obscure. We may get an impression of how the system works from watching TV, but really only begin to learn about it when it affects our lives. This can happen in several different ways. You may enter the court system if you become the victim or witness of a crime; others may be charged with a criminal act, or have a family member who is charged. Still others may be called to serve their civic duty on either a Grand Jury, which initiates criminal charges, or on a petit jury, which decides the outcome of an individual case. How Are Criminal Charges Brought? Most criminal charges are initiated by an arrest warrant which is a court order authorizing law enforcement to make an arrest. A warrant can be issued by a Judge, Judicial Magistrate, or the Grand Jury, in which case it is called an indictment. This can be done in a few different ways. The most common, in criminal cases, would be when a police officer or sheriff's deputy submits testimony or an affidavit describing the facts which they observed or learned during the course of an investigation. These sworn facts provide the "probable cause" that is required for a warrant to be issued. It is also possible for a citizen to ask for a warrant to be issued by making a sworn complaint before a Judge or Judicial Magistrate. Still other charges may be brought by the District Attorney General or a private citizen with sworn testimony before a Grand Jury. What is a Grand Jury? The Grand Jury is a group of thirteen citizens which includes a foreperson, selected by the Judge, and twelve other qualified citizens who have been summonsed and selected for duty at random. The Grand Jury does not decide guilt or innocence but does decide who will be indicted, that is, charged with a crime. The Grand Jury determines whether there is good cause to believe that a crime has been committed in Blount County by the individual or individuals to be named in the indictment. Grand Jury service is usually for a six month term; people serving on the Grand Jury are required to attend to the court system's business for only one day of each month. Where are Criminal Charges Heard? Many, but not all, misdemeanor criminal charges (cases charging a crime subject to punishment of less than one year in jail) are initiated and decided in the General Sessions Court. Defendants may, and frequently do, choose to give up their constitutionally guaranteed right to a jury trial and have their case heard by the General Sessions Court Judge. All cases where a citizen does demand a jury trial must be decided in Circuit Court, instead of the General Sessions Court. All felony criminal cases (which are cases where the punishment for the crime would be imprisonment one year or longer) must also be decided in Circuit Court. When felony criminal charges are initiated by Warrant, however, the cases begin in the General Sessions Court where the General Sessions Judge will determine whether there is "probable cause" to continue or "bind" the case over to the Circuit Court. Who Decides Criminal Cases? Both the constitution of the United States and the State of Tennessee guarantee citizens the right to a jury trial. There are two sides to this, however. Just as citizens are guaranteed by the Constitution the right to trial by jury, it is the responsibility of other citizens to appear for jury duty and fulfill this constitutional guarantee. Twelve jurors selected at random are sworn with the duty of deciding whether a person charged with a crime is found guilty or not guilty of the charge. If the jury finds the person guilty, then the Judge sets the punishment guided by a range of possible punishments that are set by the legislature for each individual crime. Not all cases go to a jury, of course. Many misdemeanors in the General Sessions Court and many felony cases in Circuit Court are submitted to the Judge by plea bargain, which is an agreement reached between the prosecutor and the defendant. When this happens, the Judge's role is to make sure that the defendant, in pleading guilty, understands his or her constitutional rights and admits the facts justifying a criminal conviction. At least ninety-nine percent of all plea agreements are approved by the Court. Sometimes plea bargains are reached because it is obvious to everyone what the outcome of a trial would be. At other times such agreements are reached because both sides just want to avoid the expense, delay and uncertainty associated with jury trials. Still other agreements are reached because a defendant is offered a lesser punishment or shorter jail time or is sorry for what he or she did. Many plea agreements are reached in which the defendant admits to the crime and instead of going to jail is released on probation. Probation is a substitute for jail time where the defendant agrees to not only obey all the laws but also to have their future good behavior, their work, their community service and their payment of the costs associated with their crime supervised by a probation officer. If a defendant fails to obey the rules of probation, then there is a second round of proceedings where the Judge (without the assistance of a jury) determines whether that defendant has broken the terms of the probation agreement. These are called probation violation hearings. Often in this type of hearing the court must decide whether an individual deserves a second chance, or if the facts of their case require that the defendant be sent back to jail to finish their sentence. Both the General Sessions Court and the Circuit Court have probation violation hearings for the people who they previously have sentenced. Are the Courts open to the public? Absolutely! You are welcome to come to the Justice Center at 948 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway and observe court proceedings at any time. The Division II Circuit courtroom is on the third floor to the right off the elevator. Every Monday a large number of criminal cases are reviewed and a scheduling of jury trials is posted on the first floor. Tennessee Courts >>