Attorney General Opinions
Relating to County Government

2014 Courts

Persons convicted of misdemeanor possession or casual exchange of methamphetamine under newly-enacted T.C.A. § 39-17-455(b) are to be placed on the drug offender registry, but persons convicted before the effective date of July 1, 2014 would not to be placed on the registry retroactively. The sentencing provisions for methamphetamine offenses set out in T.C.A. § 39-17-417(n) and 39-17-418(c)(2) apply to convictions under T.C.A. § 39-17-455. Opinion No. 14-104 (December 3, 2014).

Public Chapter 531 of 2014 amended T.C.A. § 40-6-205 and -215 relative to warrants of arrest and criminal summonses to set out rebuttable presumptions for a magistrate’s issuance of such process. It has no bearing on the law authorizing private citizens, including security officers, to make warrantless arrests. An affiant who is not a law enforcement officer but is seeking an arrest warrant for a misdemeanor must show probable cause to believe the defendant has committed the offense and sufficient information to show the need for the warrant and persuade the magistrate that a warrant should issue. An elected judge serving an 8-year term may issue a felony arrest warrant under T.C.A. § 40-6-217 even if the affiant is not a law enforcement officer. It is very unlikely that Public Chapter 531’s new procedure would invalidate a warrant or summons issued before its effective date, July 1, 2014. Opinion No. 14-93 (October 24, 2014).

If an undocumented alien minor, the minor’s parents, or the minor’s custodial parent has established domicile in Tennessee, a probate court may establish guardianship for the undocumented alien minor. Opinion No. 14-84 (September 16, 2014).

The expunction of records in juvenile court rarely triggers imposition of the $350 fee under T.C.A. § 40-32-101, but when circumstances require the assessment of the fee the juvenile court clerk is responsible for collecting and transmitting it as directed by the statute. Expunction of criminal records under T.C.A. § 40-32-101 requires filing a petition and cannot be done by agreed order, with two exceptions: (1) where a defendant is acquitted on all charges and the trial judge asks the defendant if he or she wishes to have the records expunged without cost and without a petition, and (2) where a defendant is required to post bond under T.C.A. § 38-3-109 and no surety on the bond is required to fulfill the obligations of the bond and the record is automatically expunged. The $350 fee is mandatory and cannot be waived. The fee may be paid in installments, but no order of expunction may be granted until the total amount of the fee is paid. Opinion No. 14-77 (August 25, 2014).

An appeal from a general sessions court’s order of protection is properly taken to circuit or chancery court. Opinion No. 14-69 (July 8, 2014).

Jurors may be qualified and assigned a jury-service date via the Internet. Opinion No. 14-64 (June 25, 2014).

A juvenile who committed a violent juvenile sexual offense before age 14 but was not adjudicated delinquent on that offense until after his 14th birthday would be subject to the sexual offense registry requirements under T.C.A. § 40-39-202(27) and (28). Opinion No. 14-15 (February 3, 2014).

When a person is convicted of multiple offenses arising from the same criminal episode, the person is ineligible for expungement of the records for any of those offenses. Opinion No. 14-12 (January 22, 2014). See 2014 Public Chapter 671 on this topic, enacted after this opinion was issued.

Under T.C.A. § 6-54-127, the use of criminal offenders to remove graffiti or repair defaced property is limited to offenders who have been specifically ordered by the sessions, criminal, or juvenile court to participate in those services. An offender sentenced to general community service may not be ordered by the probation officer, community corrections officer, or sentence management supervisor to perform graffiti removal on public or private property under that statute. Opinion No. 14-02 (January 7, 2014).