(a)

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class A misdemeanorup to 11 monthsup to $2,500
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 40-35-313

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Month: means a calendar month. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • 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
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
(1)

(A) The court may defer further proceedings against a qualified defendant and place the defendant on probation upon such reasonable conditions as it may require without entering a judgment of guilty and with the consent of the qualified defendant. The deferral shall be for a period of time not less than the period of the maximum sentence for the misdemeanor with which the person is charged or not more than the period of the maximum sentence of the felony with which the person is charged. The deferral is conditioned upon the defendant paying an amount to be determined by the court of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than thirty-five dollars ($35.00) per month as part payment of expenses incurred by the agency, department, program, group or association in supervising the defendant, and upon the defendant paying any or all additional costs of the defendant’s supervision, counseling or treatment in a specified manner, based upon the defendant’s ability to pay. The payments shall be made to the clerk of the court in which proceedings against the defendant were pending, who shall send the payments to the agency, department, program, group or association responsible for the supervision of the defendant, unless the defendant is found to be indigent and without anticipated future funds with which to make the payment. The clerk of the court collecting the payment is permitted to retain five percent (5%) of the proceeds collected for the handling and receiving of the proceeds as provided in this subdivision (a)(1)(A).
(B)

(i) As used in this subsection (a), “qualified defendant” means a defendant who:

(a) Is found guilty of or pleads guilty or nolo contendere to the offense for which deferral of further proceedings is sought;
(b) Is not seeking deferral of further proceedings for any offense committed by any elected or appointed person in the executive, legislative or judicial branch of the state or any political subdivision of the state, which offense was committed in the person’s official capacity or involved the duties of the person’s office;
(c) Is not seeking deferral of further proceedings for a sexual offense, a violation of § 39-15-502, § 39-15-508, § 39-15-511, or § 39-15-512, driving under the influence of an intoxicant as prohibited by § 55-10-401, vehicular assault under § 39-13-106 prior to service of the minimum sentence required by § 39-13-106, or a Class A or B felony;
(d) Has not previously been convicted of a felony or a Class A misdemeanor for which a sentence of confinement is served; and
(e) Has not previously been granted judicial diversion under this chapter or pretrial diversion.
(ii) As used in subdivision (a)(1)(B)(i)(c), “sexual offense” means conduct that constitutes:

(a) Aggravated prostitution, as described in § 39-13-516;
(b) Aggravated rape, as described in § 39-13-502;
(c) Aggravated sexual battery, as described in § 39-13-504;
(d) Aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, as described in § 39-17-1004;
(e) Attempt, as described in § 39-12-101, solicitation, as described in § 39-12-102 or conspiracy, as described in § 39-12-103, to commit any of the offenses enumerated in this subdivision (a)(1)(B)(ii);
(f) Especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, as described in § 39-17-1005;
(g) Rape, as described in § 39-13-503;
(h) Rape of a child, as described in § 39-13-522;
(i) Sexual battery by an authority figure, as described in § 39-13-527;
(j) Sexual exploitation of a minor, as described in § 39-17-1003;
(k) Statutory rape by an authority figure, as described in § 39-13-532;
(l) Incest, as described in § 39-15-302;
(m) Patronizing prostitution from a person who is younger than eighteen (18) years of age or has an intellectual disability, as described in § 39-13-514(b)(3);
(n) Promoting the prostitution of a minor, as described in § 39-13-515(c)(1); or
(o) Continuous sexual abuse of a child, as described in § 39-13-518.
(iii)

(a) As used in this subsection (a), “reasonable conditions” includes, but is not limited to, the use of a transdermal monitoring device or other alternative monitoring device for all qualified defendants granted deferral pursuant to this section on or after July 1, 2014, if the court determines that the defendant’s use of alcohol or drugs was a contributing factor in the defendant’s unlawful conduct. If the court requires a qualified defendant to use a transdermal monitoring device or other alternative monitoring device on or after July 1, 2016, as a condition of the defendant’s release, and the court determines the defendant is indigent, the court shall order that the portion of the costs of the device that the person is unable to pay be paid by the electronic monitoring indigency fund, established in § 55-10-419. “Transdermal monitoring device” means any device or instrument that is attached to the person, designed to automatically test the alcohol or drug content in a person by contact with the person’s skin at least once per one-half (1/2) hour regardless of the person’s location, and which detects the presence of alcohol or drugs and tampering, obstructing, or removing the device.
(b) As used in this subsection (a), “reasonable conditions” also includes, but is not limited to, the requirement that a qualified defendant serve a period or periods of confinement in the local jail or workhouse not to exceed a total of thirty (30) days.
(2) The provisions of this subsection (a) relative to the payment of a supervision fee shall not apply to any person subject to chapter 28, part 2 of this title. Upon violation of a condition of the probation, the court may enter an adjudication of guilt and proceed as otherwise provided. If, during the period of probation, the person does not violate any of the conditions of the probation, then upon expiration of the period, the court shall discharge the person and dismiss the proceedings against the person. Discharge and dismissal under this subsection (a) is without court adjudication of guilt, but a nonpublic record of the discharge and dismissal is retained by the court solely for the purpose of use by the courts in determining whether or not, in subsequent proceedings, the person qualifies under this subsection (a) or for the limited purposes provided in subsections (b) and (c). The discharge and dismissal shall not be deemed a conviction for purposes of disqualifications or disabilities imposed by law upon conviction of a crime or for any other purpose, except as provided in subsections (b) and (c). Discharge and dismissal under this subsection (a) may occur only once with respect to any person.
(3)

(A) No order deferring further proceedings and placing the defendant on probation as authorized by this subsection (a) may be entered by the court on or after July 1, 1998, unless there is attached to it a certificate from the Tennessee bureau of investigation stating that the defendant does not have a prior felony or Class A misdemeanor conviction. No order deferring further proceedings and placing the defendant on probation as authorized by this subsection (a) may be entered by the court if the defendant was charged with a violation of a criminal statute the elements of which constitute abuse, neglect or misappropriation of the property of a vulnerable person as defined in § 68-11-1002 on or after July 1, 2004, and prior to July 1, 2018, or charged with a violation of § 39-15-507 on or after January 1, 2019, or § 39-15-510 on or after July 1, 2019, unless the order contains a provision that the defendant agrees without contest or any further notice or hearing that the defendant’s name shall be permanently placed on the registry governed by § 68-11-1003 a copy of which shall be forwarded to the department of health.
(B) The certificate provided by the bureau pursuant to subdivision (a)(3)(A) is only a certification that according to its expunged criminal offender and pretrial diversion database the defendant is not disqualified from deferral and probation under this section by virtue of a prior felony or Class A misdemeanor conviction. The certificate is not a certification that the defendant is eligible for the deferral and probation, and it shall continue to be the duty of the district attorney general, and judge to make sufficient inquiry into the defendant’s background to determine eligibility.
(b) Upon the dismissal of the person and discharge of the proceedings against the person under subsection (a), the person may apply to the court for an order to expunge from all official records, other than the nonpublic records to be retained by the court under subsection (a) and the public records that are defined in § 40-32-101(b), all recordation relating to the person’s arrest, indictment or information, trial, finding of guilty and dismissal and discharge pursuant to this section; provided, that no records of a person who is dismissed from probation and whose proceedings are discharged pursuant to this section shall be expunged if the offense for which deferral and probation was granted was a sexual offense as defined by § 40-39-202. Each application shall contain a notation by the clerk evidencing that all court costs are paid in full, prior to the entry of an order of expunction. If the court determines, after hearing, that the person was dismissed and the proceedings against the person discharged, it shall enter the order. The effect of the order is to restore the person, in the contemplation of the law, to the status the person occupied before the arrest or indictment or information. No person as to whom the order has been entered shall be held thereafter under any provision of any law to be guilty of perjury or otherwise giving a false statement by reason of the person’s failures to recite or acknowledge the arrest, or indictment or information, or trial in response to any inquiry made of the person for any purpose, except when the person who has been availed of the privileges of expunction then assumes the role of plaintiff in a civil action based upon the same transaction or occurrence as the expunged criminal record. In that limited situation, notwithstanding this section or § 40-32-101(a)(3)-(c)(3) to the contrary, the nonpublic records are admissible for the following purposes:

(1) A plea of guilty is admissible into evidence in the civil trial as a judicial admission; and
(2) A verdict of guilty by a judge or jury is admissible into evidence in the civil trial as either a public record or is admissible to impeach the truthfulness of the plaintiff. In addition, the nonpublic records retained by the court, as provided in subsection (a), shall constitute the official record of conviction and are subject to the subpoena power of the courts of civil jurisdiction.
(c) Notwithstanding this section or § 40-32-101(a)(3)-(c)(3) to the contrary, a plea of guilty or a verdict of guilty by a judge or jury for a criminal felony offense involving an act of terrorism or any other felony offense involving violence, coercion, dishonesty or the disruption of the operations of a state or local government is admissible into evidence in a civil action for the purpose of impeaching the truthfulness, veracity or credibility of a witness if the plea or verdict occurred within ten (10) years of the date the evidence is sought to be admitted and the witness is a party to the civil action. The plea or verdict is admissible for the purposes set out in this subsection (c) notwithstanding the fact that the public records of the plea or verdict have been expunged pursuant to this section either prior to or after the commencement of the civil action at which the plea or verdict is sought to be admitted. In addition, the nonpublic records retained by the court, Tennessee bureau of investigation or a local law enforcement agency shall constitute official records of plea or verdict and are subject to the subpoena power of the courts of civil jurisdiction.
(d)

(1) Any court dismissing charges against a person and ordering the expunction of a person’s public records following the discharge of proceedings pursuant to this section after October 1, 1998, shall send or cause to be sent a copy of the dismissal and expunction order to the Tennessee bureau of investigation for entry into its expunged criminal offender and pretrial diversion database; provided, however, that the court shall not be required to send to the bureau a copy of any dismissal and expunction order dated on or after July 1, 1999, if the charge dismissed is classified as a Class B or C misdemeanor. The order shall contain the name of the person seeking dismissal and expunction, the person’s date of birth and social security number, the offense that was dismissed and the date the dismissal and expunction order is entered.
(2) [Deleted by 2019 amendment.]
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