Cheatham County Criminal Defense Attorney
Cheatham County has one courthouse and four Circuit judges who rotate through it by month. Which judge hears your felony depends on the calendar, and a continuance can move your case to a different judge. That rotation is the first thing a Cheatham County criminal defense attorney has to track.
How Criminal Cases Work in Cheatham County
Cheatham County sits in the 23rd Judicial District with Dickson, Houston, Humphreys and Stewart counties. There is no separate Criminal Court — felonies are tried in Circuit Court. The district has four Circuit divisions, the fourth created in September 2024, and each judge sits in Cheatham County three months of the year on a published rotation.
That rotation is the single most practically important fact about practicing here, and most published material about Cheatham County does not mention it. It means the identity of the judge on your case is a function of the month it is set, not of an assignment made when the case was filed.
| Court | What it handles |
|---|---|
| General Sessions Court, one judge | Misdemeanors on a written waiver and preliminary hearings in felony cases. Criminal court sits every Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. |
| Circuit Court, four rotating divisions | Felonies and criminal jury trials. Criminal docket call is the second Tuesday of each month at 9:00 a.m. |
| Chancery Court | Civil equity matters, same building |
Most cases start in General Sessions, and that court has a hard ceiling. Under § 40-1-109 it can enter final judgment only in a misdemeanor, and only where the defendant waives indictment, presentment, grand jury investigation and a jury trial in writing. A felony cannot be tried there at all. Section 40-3-101 allows a criminal charge to be answered only by presentment, indictment or impeachment, so at the General Sessions stage a felony gets a preliminary hearing and a bind-over rather than a trial.
Three things worth knowing. Not every case passes through General Sessions at all — a grand jury presentment or a direct indictment starts the case in the higher court, and someone arrested on an indictment has already skipped the stage this page describes. Waiving the preliminary hearing is not unilateral either: under § 40-10-114 the State can block a waiver by making a timely objection for good cause. And a felony can skip the grand jury by information under § 40-3-103, but only with the defendant's written waiver made in the presence of counsel, and only with the court's consent.
Where You Actually Go
Confirm your setting with the clerk before you travel. Court locations and docket days change, and the addresses below are current as of the date on this page rather than guaranteed forever.
| Where | What happens there |
|---|---|
| Cheatham County Courthouse 100 Public Square, Ashland City 37015 |
Circuit Court in Room 225, General Sessions in Room 223. Same building, different days |
| Cheatham County Sheriff's Office and Jail 264 South Main Street, Ashland City 37015 |
The address the county publishes for the Sheriff's Office. It does not publish a separate street address for the jail |
| Sheriff's Office administration 264 South Main Street, Ashland City 37015 |
A third address. Not the jail and not the courthouse |
Recovery and Specialty Courts in Cheatham County
These programs are demanding rather than easy, and admission is never automatic. They are worth asking about early, because several of them turn on facts that get decided during plea negotiations rather than after.
| Program | What is published about it |
|---|---|
| Cheatham County Recovery Court | General Sessions level, Cheatham County only. A county-level misdemeanor-side program, which counties several times this size do not have |
| 23rd Judicial District Recovery Court | Circuit level, serving Cheatham, Dickson, Humphreys, Houston and Stewart |
| 23rd Judicial District Mental Health Court | Circuit level, same five counties |
| Veterans Treatment Court and DUI Court | Neither exists in Cheatham County or anywhere in the 23rd District |
Eligibility criteria come from the courts' own published materials and from the state's treatment court roster. Programs change their criteria, and not every program publishes them, so treat this as the starting point for a conversation rather than as a decision.
The Rotation Is the Story
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Four judges, three months each
The clerk publishes the rotation. Division I sits in Cheatham County in March, July and November. Division II in April, August and December. Division III in January, May and September. Division IV in February, June and October. A felony set in September is heard by a different judge than the same case continued to October.
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Which means a continuance is a substantive decision
In most counties moving a setting costs you time. Here it can also change who decides your case. That is not a reason to avoid continuances, but it is a reason to know the rotation before agreeing to one, and it is not something you will find on most law firm pages about this county.
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General Sessions sits weekly, Circuit sits monthly
General Sessions criminal is every Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. The Circuit criminal docket call is once a month, on the second Tuesday. Resolving a case at the General Sessions stage is materially faster here than letting it go up, and in a county this size that gap is wider than usual.
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Two addresses, and one that is neither
Courthouse at 100 Public Square — Circuit in Suite 225, General Sessions in Room 223. Sheriff's Office at 264 South Main, which is also the address the county gives for the jail. And 350 Frey Street, which people find online, is the county mayor's office and has nothing to do with your case.
What a Cheatham County Criminal Defense Attorney Handles Here
The charge pages below go through the Tennessee statutes in detail, including the 2026 changes that took effect on July 1. This page is about where your case is heard. Those pages are about what you are facing.
Cities in Cheatham County
Ashland City is the county seat. Its municipal court gave up its concurrent General Sessions jurisdiction by ordinance in 2022, so state charges now go to the county.
Nearby counties
The judicial district
Cheatham County shares the 23rd Judicial District with Dickson, Houston, Humphreys and Stewart counties, so its judges and programs are shared across all five.
Cheatham County Questions
Who is the judge on my Cheatham County case?
It depends on the month. Four Circuit judges rotate through Cheatham County, each sitting three months of the year on a schedule the clerk publishes. January, May and September are one judge; February, June and October another; March, July and November another; April, August and December the fourth. This is unusual and it is worth knowing before you agree to move a setting.
When does criminal court meet in Ashland City?
General Sessions criminal sits every Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. The Circuit criminal docket call is the second Tuesday of each month at 9:00 a.m. Both are at the Cheatham County Courthouse at 100 Public Square, General Sessions in Room 223 and Circuit in Room 225.
Does Cheatham County have a drug court?
It has two doors. There is a Cheatham County Recovery Court at the General Sessions level, which is a county-level program, and there is a 23rd Judicial District Recovery Court at the Circuit level serving all five counties in the district. The district also runs a mental health court. There is no veterans court and no DUI court anywhere in the 23rd District.
Is there a separate Criminal Court in Cheatham County?
No. Felonies are tried in Circuit Court. The county's Circuit Court Clerk handles the criminal side, processing felonies, misdemeanors and post-conviction matters, and General Sessions is limited to misdemeanors and preliminary hearings.
One Lawyer, Start to Finish
Austin Tomlinson served in the Army before practicing law, and he handles every case himself. Hiring a Cheatham County criminal defense attorney here means the person who appears at your first setting is the person who knows the file at the end of it.
The first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing. It is usually enough to tell you what the realistic outcomes are and what has to happen first.
Call (615) 669-8312Local Procedure Is Half the Case
Docket days, rotations and deadlines vary by county, and missing one of them costs more than most people expect.
The First Setting Matters
Where a case starts in General Sessions, much of what can be done with it is decided there, before anything has been indicted.
Veteran-Owned
Austin served, and Patriot Law was built around defending people who did.