Williamson County Criminal Defense Attorney
Franklin, Brentwood, Nolensville, Fairview and Thompson's Station share one county court system for state charges, though Franklin and Brentwood each run a municipal court of their own for city citations. Williamson County has no separate Criminal Court, a two-part assignment system for criminal cases, and a scheduling order that sets a hard plea date at arraignment. A Williamson County criminal defense attorney has to work backward from that date.
How Criminal Cases Work in Williamson County
Williamson County is its own judicial district, the 21st, and has been since September 1, 2022. Felonies are tried in Circuit Court rather than a separate Criminal Court. There are four Circuit divisions, but criminal cases are not assigned by division. They are split into Part I and Part II, with two judges handling each.
That Part I and Part II split is genuinely unusual and it changes how the case feels. A civil case here is randomly assigned to one of four divisions and stays with that judge. A criminal case belongs to a Part, and either of two judges may take it. If you are reading older material that groups Williamson with Hickman, Lewis and Perry counties, that is pre-2022 law. Those three counties are the 32nd District now.
| Court | What it handles |
|---|---|
| General Sessions Court, two judges | Misdemeanors on a written waiver, preliminary hearings, warrants, protection orders, traffic, probation review, bond |
| Circuit Criminal Court, Parts I and II | Felonies and criminal jury trials after indictment. Two judges per Part |
| Circuit Civil, Divisions I through IV | Randomly assigned at filing and stays with that judge, unlike the criminal side |
| Franklin Municipal Court | City citations only. Traffic, parking, fire code and city ordinance violations inside Franklin. Sits at Franklin Police Headquarters, 900 Columbia Avenue. Uncontested docket the second and fourth Tuesdays at 7:30 a.m., contested docket the second Thursday at 7:30 a.m. |
| Brentwood Municipal Court | City citations only. Sits at 910 Heritage Way, inside Brentwood Police Department headquarters, usually the first Tuesday of the month |
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 |
|---|---|
| Williamson County Judicial Center 135 Fourth Avenue South, Franklin 37064 |
Court. General Sessions and Circuit |
| John I. Easley Jr. Criminal Justice Center 408 Century Court, Franklin |
The jail, and the Magistrate's Office. Staffed 24 hours |
Recovery and Specialty Courts in Williamson 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 |
|---|---|
| 21st Judicial District Recovery Court | Operates at both the Circuit and General Sessions levels |
| Veterans Treatment Court | General Sessions, established September 2015. Published criteria: veteran status, substance abuse or mental health issues, and you may apply at any time prior to sentencing. A probationer facing revocation may still be admitted, but anyone already on probation must have at least one year remaining on the sentence. Admissions are decided case by case |
| Mental Health Court | General Sessions |
| DUI Court | General Sessions. Williamson is one of only three counties in this area with a dedicated DUI court |
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.
What Williamson County Does Differently
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The magistrate is at the jail, not the courthouse
Two addresses, and people mix them up constantly. Court is at 135 Fourth Avenue South. The Magistrate's Office is at 408 Century Court, inside the Criminal Justice Center, staffed around the clock. Magistrates conduct initial appearances shortly after arrest at the jail, issue warrants, set bail and establish the first court date. If your first contact with the system is a magistrate, you were never at the Judicial Center.
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Arraignment sets a plea date, and it is a real deadline
The district's local rules have the court enter an arraignment and scheduling order that fixes both a review date and a plea date, with defense discovery elections made at that time. The rule is that if no plea agreement is entered by the plea date, the case is docketed for trial unless an amended scheduling order is filed and agreed to by the court. That is a harder cutoff than most counties run, and a case that drifts past it is a case being set for trial.
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Motion timing is on the clock too
Motions requiring an evidentiary hearing are filed and set not less than twenty days out. Motions without one, not less than fourteen. Written responses are due by close of business three days before the hearing. None of that is unusual on its own; what is unusual is how consistently it is enforced here.
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Bond is paid in exact cash or through a bondsman
The Sheriff's Office publishes that cash bonds are accepted around the clock but must be in the exact amount, because no change is given, and that booking including fingerprints and photograph has to finish before anyone can post at all. Deputies will not recommend a bondsman.
What a Williamson 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 Williamson County
Franklin and Brentwood each run a municipal court of their own for city citations, while every state criminal charge in the county is heard at the Judicial Center in Franklin.
Nearby counties
The judicial district
Williamson County has been a single-county judicial district since September 1, 2022. Hickman, Lewis and Perry counties, which used to be grouped with it, are now the 32nd District.
Williamson County Questions
Do I go to court in Franklin or in Brentwood?
It depends on what you were charged with. A state criminal charge goes to county court in Franklin no matter which Williamson County city you were in — Brentwood, Nolensville, Fairview and Thompson's Station all included — at the Judicial Center, 135 Fourth Avenue South. A city citation written by Brentwood police goes to Brentwood Municipal Court at 910 Heritage Way instead, and a Franklin city citation goes to Franklin Municipal Court at 900 Columbia Avenue. If you were arrested and saw a magistrate first, that happened at 408 Century Court, which is the jail, and it is a different building again.
Does Williamson County have a Criminal Court?
Not as a separate court. Felonies are tried in Circuit Court, which the clerk's office calls Circuit Criminal Court. What is distinctive is that criminal cases are assigned to Part I or Part II rather than to a single division, with two judges covering each Part. Civil cases work the opposite way and stay with one judge.
What is the plea date on my scheduling order?
It is the deadline for entering a plea agreement. The district's rules provide that if no agreement is entered by that date, the case gets docketed for trial unless an amended scheduling order is filed and the court agrees to it. Treat it as a real date rather than a formality, because the consequence of passing it is that your case is now a trial setting.
Is there a veterans court in Williamson County?
Yes, at the General Sessions level, running since 2015. You can apply at any point before sentencing, and a probationer facing revocation can still be considered. The condition that catches people is that if you are already on probation you need at least a year left on the sentence. Every admission is decided case by case.
One Lawyer, Start to Finish
Austin Tomlinson served in the Army before practicing law, and he handles every case himself. Hiring a Williamson 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.