Public defender vs private attorney comes down to three things in Tennessee: who qualifies, who chooses the lawyer, and how much time that lawyer has for your case.
Short answer. In Tennessee a public defender is appointed only after the court holds a hearing on your finances and you complete a uniform affidavit of indigency, and a $50 administrative fee still applies. You do not choose appointed counsel. Retained counsel is your choice, can begin work before the first court date, and controls its own caseload.
Written by Austin Tomlinson, criminal defense attorney at Patriot Law, Nashville, Tennessee. Last reviewed October 2026.
If you were arrested this week, the public defender vs private attorney question is probably the first real decision you have to make. One costs nothing up front and is not yours to choose. The other you choose, and pay for.
This page explains how appointed counsel actually works under Tennessee law, what the workload numbers look like, and what you are buying when you retain a lawyer. It is general information about Tennessee law, not advice about any specific case.
Court date already set? Austin Tomlinson reviews cases at no charge and will tell you straight whether you need him. Call (615) 669-8312 or send a confidential message.
Nobody has to face a criminal charge alone. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-14-103, "if unable to employ counsel, the defendant is entitled to have counsel appointed by the court." Getting that appointment involves three steps most people are not expecting.
Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-14-202, when an accused "informs the court that the accused is financially unable to obtain the assistance of counsel, it is the duty of the court to conduct a full and complete hearing as to the financial ability of the accused."
Every accused who says they cannot afford counsel "shall be required to complete the uniform affidavit of indigency." The court then weighs your income from any source, your equity in real or personal property, federal poverty guidelines, the amount of your bond, the customary fee for an attorney in the community, and any other relevant circumstance. § 40-14-202(c).
A defendant provided with counsel by the court "shall be assessed by the court at the time of appointment a nonrefundable administrative fee in the amount of fifty dollars ($50.00)." It is waived or reduced if you lack the resources to pay, and can be raised to as much as $200 if the court finds you can pay more. § 40-14-103.
Two details matter here. The bond you posted counts against you in the indigency analysis, so a family member bonding you out can affect whether you qualify. And the lawyer who gets appointed is the lawyer you get. There is no menu.
The public defender vs private attorney choice is not a question of who is the better lawyer. Both are licensed Tennessee lawyers bound by the same ethical rules and the same duty to you. The differences are structural.
| Public defender | Private attorney | |
|---|---|---|
| Who qualifies | Only those the court finds indigent after a hearing | Anyone who retains the lawyer |
| Who picks the lawyer | The court | You |
| When work can start | After appointment, usually at or after the first court appearance | The day you call, often before the first setting |
| Caseload | Set by the office's docket and funding | Set by the lawyer, who can decline new cases |
| Cost to you | $50 administrative fee, waivable or up to $200 | A fee you agree to in advance |
| Changing lawyers | Only by motion, and courts rarely grant it over a disagreement | Your decision |
Sources: Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-14-103 and § 40-14-202.
Public defenders are experienced trial lawyers. Many of them try more cases in a year than private attorneys try in five. The constraint is not skill. It is volume, and it is set by budgets rather than by the lawyer.
The 2023 National Public Defense Workload Study, published by the RAND Corporation, asked experienced defenders how much time competent representation actually takes. The panel put the annual maximum for one full time attorney at:
Those are ceilings for one attorney carrying one case type and nothing else. A serious DUI, in that study, takes about 33 hours of attorney work. Ask any lawyer you are considering, appointed or retained, how many open cases they carry right now. The answer tells you more than any website.
Every case turns on its own facts. Nothing here predicts or guarantees an outcome in any particular matter.
Not a promise about the result. What you are buying is time, control, and the ability to start early.
Retained counsel can begin the day you call: contacting the prosecutor, requesting the cruiser and body camera video, and preserving records before anything is overwritten.
You pick the lawyer, you hear how they talk about your case before you commit, and you can keep them through every stage.
The preliminary hearing is the first chance to cross examine the arresting officer under oath and lock in testimony. It takes preparation to use well.
If the case is bound over, the same lawyer carries everything learned in General Sessions forward instead of starting cold.
Questions about bond conditions, your license, your job, or a no contact order do not wait for the next court date.
Driving privileges, firearm rights, immigration exposure, a clearance or a professional license are often what the case is really about. Those get worked alongside the charge.
Plenty of lawyers will take a fee and walk your case to a plea at the first setting. That is not the same as defending it.
Austin Tomlinson is an Army veteran who built Patriot Law to do the other kind of work: pull the video and the testing records, cross examine the officer at the preliminary hearing, file the motions the facts support, and be ready to try the case if the State cannot back up the charge. Some cases still resolve by agreement. The point is that the agreement comes after the evidence has been tested, not before anyone has looked at it.
He defends veterans and civilians alike across Nashville and Middle Tennessee. If a security clearance or VA benefits are in play, that gets handled as part of the defense.
Every case turns on its own facts. Any result described on this page is not a prediction or guarantee of the outcome in another matter.
Find out what your case actually needs. The review is free and the conversation is confidential. Call (615) 669-8312 or send a confidential message.
If retaining counsel is out of reach, the court needs to hear that. An appointed lawyer is far better than no lawyer, and the public defender's office handles serious cases every day.
Paying a fee you cannot carry, and then missing rent or your bond obligations, helps nobody. Ask for the affidavit of indigency.
If the court appoints counsel and your situation changes, retaining private counsel later is allowed. Ask how that substitution works before the next setting.
A guilty plea is a conviction, with consequences that outlast the case. An appointed lawyer beats facing the State without one.
In the end, public defender vs private attorney is a question about resources: whether you have them, and what the charge is likely to cost you if it sticks. Our post on whether hiring a DUI attorney is worth it walks through the same math on the DUI side, and how to choose a DUI lawyer in Nashville covers what to ask before you sign anything.
You tell the court you cannot afford counsel, complete the uniform affidavit of indigency, and the court holds a hearing on your financial ability under Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-14-202. The court weighs your income from any source, your property, federal poverty guidelines, the amount of your bond, and the customary attorney fee in the community.
Not entirely. Under § 40-14-103, a defendant given court appointed counsel is assessed a nonrefundable administrative fee of $50 at appointment. The court waives or reduces it if you lack the resources to pay, and may raise it to as much as $200 if it finds you can pay more.
No. The court appoints the public defender's office, or another licensed attorney where there is no public defender. Changing appointed counsel requires a motion, and courts rarely grant one over a disagreement about strategy.
Yes. They are licensed attorneys, often with heavy trial experience. The real difference is caseload. The 2023 National Public Defense Workload Study put the annual maximum for one attorney at 63 high complexity DUI cases or 36 mid level felonies, and many offices carry more than that.
Yes. A defendant may retain private counsel after counsel has been appointed. Ask the lawyer you are considering how the substitution is handled and what it means for the next court date.
No lawyer can promise a result, and the Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct prohibit claims that create an unjustified expectation. What retained counsel offers is your choice of lawyer, work that can begin before the first court date, and a caseload the lawyer controls.
Every case turns on its own facts. Any result described on this page is not a prediction or guarantee of the outcome in another matter.
Bring the charge, the paperwork, and your questions. Austin Tomlinson will walk through what the State has to prove and what your options look like from here.
Each county page covers the court structure, the specialty courts and the local rules of that county. Each city page covers which court actually has your case, how far away it is, and what that city's own court can and cannot do. The areas served page lays all of it out in one place. If your city is not listed, call anyway — these are the places Austin appears most often, not the limits of where he goes.
Every day you wait is a day the prosecution is working and you are not. Call Patriot Law and get a straight read on where you actually stand.
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