(a) When any court of this state, including municipal courts for violation of municipal ordinances, imposes a fine upon an individual, the court may direct as follows:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 40-24-101

  • Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) That the defendant pay the entire amount at the time sentence is pronounced;
(2) That the defendant pay the entire amount at some later date;
(3) That the defendant pay the fine in specified portions or installments at designated periodic intervals and that the portions be remitted to a designated official, who shall report to the court in the event of any failure to comply with the order; or
(4) Where the defendant is sentenced to a period of probation as well as a fine, that payment of the fine be a condition of the sentence.
(b) Upon request by an individual on a payment or installment plan with the court clerk, the court clerk shall not require an individual to pay any outstanding court-assessed fines, fees, taxes, or costs arising from a criminal proceeding during the one-hundred-eighty-day period following the individual’s release from a term of imprisonment sentence of one (1) year or more for a felony offense. If otherwise unavailable to the court, the individual shall provide documentation of the individual’s release date when making this request. This subsection (b) does not apply to restitution owed to a victim. This subsection (b) does not apply to fines, fees, taxes, or costs that have been sent to a collection agency pursuant to § 40-24-105(d).
(c) For the clerk’s services in administering any court-approved plan authorizing payment of a fine by installments, the clerk of court shall be entitled to a fee of five percent (5%) of the total amount to be collected, not to exceed fifteen dollars ($15.00); provided, that in counties having a population of more than seven hundred thousand (700,000), according to the 1990 federal census or any subsequent federal census, the fee shall not exceed ten percent (10%) of the total amount to be collected, not to exceed fifteen dollars ($15.00). The clerk’s fees shall be added to the defendant’s bill of costs.
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