Judges and Chancellors

Plain English Breakdown

The bill does not specify the exact compensation for criminal magistrates.

Pilot Project for Criminal Magistrates

This bill establishes a pilot project in Tennessee's ten busiest criminal courts to test the use of criminal magistrates who can handle certain legal duties.

What This Bill Does

• Establishes a pilot program in the ten counties with the highest number of criminal cases, as determined by an annual study conducted by the comptroller of the treasury.
• Allows these counties to create the position of criminal magistrate if their local government agrees.
• Requires judges to appoint criminal magistrates starting January 1, 2027, who will handle specific legal tasks like arraignments and bond hearings.
• Sets duties for criminal magistrates including conducting hearings, determining indigency status, accepting guilty pleas, issuing warrants, and reviewing petitions.
• Establishes a four-year term for the criminal magistrate position with judges having the power to remove them if needed.

Who It Names or Affects

• Judges in Tennessee's ten busiest criminal courts
• Local governments of the ten eligible counties
• Criminal defendants and their legal processes

Terms To Know

Pilot Project

A trial run to test a new idea or program before full implementation.

Indigency Status

The determination of whether someone is too poor to afford legal representation and may qualify for free services.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much the criminal magistrates will be paid.
• It's unclear what happens if a county decides not to participate in the pilot project.

Official Summary Text

This bill

establishes
a pilot project to provide for criminal magistrates in the 10

counties in which the criminal courts experience the highest judicial caseload, as determined by the comptroller of the treasury in the annual weighted caseload study
.
By December 1, 2026, the administrative office of the courts must notify the legislative body of each of the
10
counties that are eligible to participate in the pilot project.

CRIMINAL MAGISTRATE
POSITION

Upon being notified of eligibility,
this bill authorizes
the legislative body of an eligible county
to
, by ordinance,
establish
the position of criminal magistrate within the county. Following enactment of such an ordinance, but no sooner than January 1, 2027, the judges of the county with criminal jurisdiction
, excluding general session judges,
may appoint the criminal magistrate, who serve
s
at the pleasure of the majority of the judges of the county with criminal jurisdiction.

Duties

Th
is bill provides that
the criminal magistrate
has all of the following duties:



Conduct arraignments


Conduct initial appearance hearings and set initial appearance bonds


Determine a defendant's indigency status


Accept entry of pleas of guilt for misdemeanors and Class D and Class E felonies


Issue search warrants and arrest warrants


Conduct preliminary hearings


Review and issue summary adjudication orders, if appropriate, for all collateral petitions for all misdemeanors and Class D and Class E felonies

Term
and Compensation

This bill provides that t
he term of a criminal magistrate is four years. The criminal magistrate may be removed from
office by majority vote of the judges of the county with criminal jurisdiction
, excluding general session judges
.

The criminal magistrate must be compensated from the general fund of the county in an amount to be determined by the majority of the elected judges of the county with criminal jurisdiction
, excluding general session judges,
and subject to the approval of the legislative body.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 2251
By Grills

SENATE BILL 2025
By Lowe
SB2025
011154
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 16;
Title 17 and Title 40, relative to criminal
magistrates.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 40, Chapter 5, is amended by adding
the following new part:
40-5-301.
(a) There is created a pilot project to provide for criminal magistrates in the ten
(10) counties in which the criminal courts experience the highest judicial caseload, as
determined by the comptroller of the treasury in the annual weighted caseload study,
required by § 16-2-513.
(b) By December 1, 2026, the administrative office of the courts must notify the
legislative body of each of the ten (10) counties that are eligible to participate in the pilot
project.
40-5-302.
(a) Upon being notified of eligibility under § 40-5-301, the legislative body of an
eligible county may, by ordinance, create the position of criminal magistrate within the
county.
(b) Following enactment of such an ordinance, but no sooner than January 1,
2027, the judges of the county with criminal jurisdiction may appoint the criminal
magistrate, who shall serve at the pleasure of the majority of the judges of the county
with criminal jurisdiction. As used this part, "judges of the county with criminal
jurisdiction" does not include general sessions judges.

- 2 - 011154

40-5-303.
The duties of the criminal magistrate are to:
(1) Conduct arraignments, pursuant to Rule 10 of the Tennessee Rules
of Criminal Procedure;
(2) Conduct initial appearance hearings, pursuant to Rule 5 of the
Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, and set initial appearance bonds,
pursuant to § 40-11-118;
(3) Determine a defendant's indigency status;
(4) Accept entry of pleas of guilt, pursuant to Rule 11 of the Tennessee
Rules of Criminal Procedure, for misdemeanors and Class D and Class E
felonies;
(5) Issue search warrants and arrest warrants;
(6) Conduct preliminary hearings, pursuant to Rule 5.1 of the Tennessee
Rules of Criminal Procedure; and
(7) Review and issue summary adjudication orders, if appropriate, for all
collateral petitions for all misdemeanors and Class D and Class E felonies. As
used in this section, "collateral petitions" include, but are not limited to, motions
to modify or waive sentence requirements, post-conviction relief petitions, and
petitions for writs of error coram nobis.
40-5-304.
(a) The term of a criminal magistrate is four (4) years. The criminal magistrate
may be removed from office by majority vote of the judges of the county with criminal
jurisdiction.

- 3 - 011154

(b) The criminal magistrate must be compensated from the general fund of the
county in an amount to be determined by the majority of the elected judges of the county
with criminal jurisdiction and subject to the approval of the legislative body.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.