General Sessions vs Criminal Court in Tennessee
One of these courts cannot touch your case until you sign away the grand jury and the jury trial. Most explanations of the difference never mention it.
General Sessions Is Not a Smaller Version of Criminal Court
Almost every criminal case in Tennessee starts in General Sessions Court. What that court can do with your case depends on something you decide, not on the charge. It cannot try a misdemeanor at all unless you first give up the grand jury and the jury trial, in writing. Criminal Court is where felonies go after a grand jury indicts, and where a jury is available without giving anything up.
The usual framing of General Sessions vs Criminal Court is that one handles small cases and the other handles big ones. That is roughly true about outcomes and completely wrong about how the two courts work. The line between them is a set of rights, and one of them gets waived by agreeing to be heard.
General Sessions Cannot Try You Until You Waive
Tennessee Code Annotated § 40-1-109 gives General Sessions jurisdiction to try a misdemeanor only where the person charged "enters a plea of guilty in writing or requests a trial upon the merits and expressly waives an indictment, presentment, grand jury investigation and jury trial." The statute adds that "the waiver shall be in writing as provided in Rule 5 of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure."
Read that again, because it inverts the usual description. General Sessions does not possess misdemeanor trial power and then extend you a choice. It has no such power until the waiver is signed. Without it, the case moves toward a grand jury like any other.
The reason sits in the state constitution. Article I, section 14 says "that no person shall be put to answer any criminal charge but by presentment, indictment or impeachment." Article I, section 6 says "that the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate." Those two protections are what § 40-1-109 asks you to set aside so the case can be resolved that morning instead of months later.
That trade is often the right one. Resolving a misdemeanor quickly, at a sentence the judge has already indicated, beats waiting a year for the same result. But it is a trade, and it should be made deliberately rather than discovered afterward on a form someone slid across a table.
What Each Court Can Actually Do
| General Sessions | Criminal Court | |
|---|---|---|
| How your case arrives | Arrest warrant or citation | Grand jury indictment or presentment |
| Can it try a misdemeanor | Only on a written waiver, § 40-1-109 | Yes |
| Jury available | No | Yes |
| Felony role | Preliminary hearing, then bind over | Trial and sentencing |
| Maximum sentence | 11 months 29 days, § 40-35-111(e) | Up to life, § 40-35-111(b) |
| Discovery | Limited, and fast | Full, under the criminal rules |
| If you lose | Appeal for a new trial, 10 days | Appeal on the record to the Court of Criminal Appeals |
The last row is the one people misread. An appeal from General Sessions is not a review of what the judge did. It is a fresh trial in a different court, which is why the deadline is ten days and not thirty.
The Sentencing Ranges That Set the Ceiling
Section 40-35-111 fixes the ranges. General Sessions is capped by the misdemeanor ceiling in subsection (e). Everything in subsection (b) belongs to Criminal Court.
| Class | Authorized sentence |
|---|---|
| Class C misdemeanor | Not greater than 30 days, fine not to exceed $50 |
| Class B misdemeanor | Not greater than 6 months, fine not to exceed $500 |
| Class A misdemeanor | Not greater than 11 months 29 days, fine not to exceed $2,500 |
| Class E felony | Not less than 1 year nor more than 6 years |
| Class D felony | Not less than 2 years nor more than 12 years |
| Class C felony | Not less than 3 years nor more than 15 years |
| Class B felony | Not less than 8 years nor more than 30 years |
| Class A felony | Not less than 15 years nor more than 60 years |
Two common charges sit closer to that line than people expect. Theft is a Class A misdemeanor where the property is "$1,000 or less" under § 39-14-105(a), so exactly one thousand dollars is still the misdemeanor. And under § 55-10-402 a first, second and third offense DUI are all misdemeanors. Not until a fourth conviction does DUI become a Class E felony, with a fifth graded Class D and a sixth or subsequent Class C.
How a Case Travels From One Court to the Other
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The preliminary hearing
A felony begins with a hearing in General Sessions on whether there is probable cause. It is not a trial and nobody is found guilty. The State puts on enough to move the case forward and the defense cross-examines. That cross-examination is often the only time a witness answers questions under oath before trial, which is why the hearing matters far more than its low legal standard suggests.
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Waiving it is a decision, and the State gets a say
The hearing can be given up, but not unilaterally. Section 40-10-114 provides that "the preliminary hearing may not be waived by the defendant if the state makes a timely objection, for good cause shown." Waiving is sometimes correct and sometimes throws away the only early look at the proof.
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The grand jury
A finding of probable cause sends the case to the grand jury. Section 40-13-101 defines an indictment as "an accusation in writing presented by the grand jury of the county charging a person with an indictable offense." The grand jury hears the State only. There is no defense case at this stage.
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Criminal Court
On indictment the case is arraigned in Criminal Court, and the parts of a criminal case most people picture begin: full discovery, motions to suppress, plea negotiation with the sentence ranges above in view, and a jury trial if it goes that far.
A case can also skip the first two steps. The grand jury can indict directly, and when it does the General Sessions case simply ends and the defendant answers in Criminal Court. Nothing has gone wrong when that happens, but it does remove the preliminary hearing, and it is worth knowing why the hearing you were expecting disappeared from the docket.
The Jury You Waived Comes Back Only If You Ask On the Way Out
A General Sessions conviction can be appealed within ten days under § 27-5-108, and the appeal is a brand new trial rather than a review. But the jury is not automatic. Section 27-3-131(b) provides that "demand for a jury trial shall be made at the time of filing an appeal under § 27-5-108 ... If such demand is not made at the time of filing the appeal, the right to a trial by jury is waived."
Sit with that sequence. You waived the jury to be heard in General Sessions. You lost. The appeal is the one moment the jury is available again, and § 27-3-131(a) allows the new trial "with or without a jury." Say nothing when you file and the jury is gone a second time, this time permanently, and the new trial proceeds in front of a judge.
It is lost by omission, not by any decision anyone announces out loud. It is also the single most concrete reason to have a lawyer file the appeal rather than walking the paper to the clerk yourself, and the reason the ten-day deadline deserves more respect than it usually gets.
It Is Not Called Criminal Court Everywhere
Tennessee does not use one name for the felony court. Some judicial districts have a Criminal Court, others give criminal jurisdiction to Circuit Court, and the difference is historical rather than substantive. The procedure above is the same either way.
| County | District | The felony court |
|---|---|---|
| Davidson | 20th | Criminal Court, multiple divisions |
| Sumner | 18th | Criminal Court |
| Wilson | 15th | Circuit Criminal Court |
| Williamson | 21st | Circuit Court, criminal matters filed there |
Rutherford, Cheatham and Smith counties follow the same pattern under their own district structures. If you are unsure which court holds your case, the number on your citation or bond paperwork and the clerk's office will tell you in a minute.
This matters for a practical reason rather than a legal one. People miss court dates because they went to the right courthouse and the wrong floor, or because a notice said Circuit Court and they were looking for Criminal Court. A failure to appear is its own charge and it is entirely avoidable. Our areas served pages list the courthouse for each county we practice in.
The Court You Are In Changes What Is Worth Doing
In General Sessions the clock is short and the record is thin. Cases are resolved in minutes, the evidence you get is limited, and the leverage usually comes from what the State has not assembled yet rather than from what you can disprove. The real question is often whether to resolve it now or to decline the waiver and let the case take the longer route.
In Criminal Court the file is complete, motions are available and a jury is on the table, which changes the arithmetic on both sides. It also means a different kind of exposure. The sentence ranges in the table above are the reason a felony indictment is not simply a harder version of the same problem.
Neither court is the good one. They ask different things of a defense, and the decisions that carry the most weight, whether to waive, whether to hold the preliminary hearing, whether to appeal and what to demand when you do, all get made early and mostly cannot be revisited.
General Sessions vs Criminal Court FAQ
Can I get a jury trial in General Sessions Court?
No. General Sessions has no jury. Under § 40-1-109 the court gains power to try a misdemeanor only when the defendant expressly waives indictment, presentment, grand jury investigation and jury trial in writing. If you want a jury, that is the waiver you decline.
Is General Sessions Court less serious than Criminal Court?
The sentence ceiling is lower, at 11 months 29 days under § 40-35-111(e), but a conviction there is a real conviction with the same record consequences. The case is also decided far faster and on far less information, which cuts both ways.
How long do I have to appeal a General Sessions conviction?
Ten days, under § 27-5-108. The appeal is a new trial rather than a review of the first one. Demand the jury at the time you file, because § 27-3-131(b) treats the right as waived if the demand is not made then.
What happens at a preliminary hearing?
A General Sessions judge decides whether there is probable cause to send a felony to the grand jury. Guilt is not decided. The defense can cross-examine the State's witnesses, which is frequently the earliest and best look at the proof.
Can I skip the preliminary hearing?
Usually, but not always. Section 40-10-114 provides that the hearing may not be waived if the State makes a timely objection for good cause shown. Whether waiving helps depends on what the hearing would produce.
Is a third DUI handled in Criminal Court?
A third offense DUI is still a misdemeanor under § 55-10-402. A fourth conviction is a Class E felony, a fifth is Class D and a sixth or subsequent is Class C. The felony grades are what move the case to the felony court.
Know What You Are Being Asked to Give Up
Austin Tomlinson appears in General Sessions and Criminal Court across Davidson County and Middle Tennessee, and takes every case himself. Bring your citation or bond paperwork, because the court, the division and the date on it answer most of the first questions.