A first shoplifting charge in Tennessee is prosecuted as theft, and the value of the merchandise sets the level of the charge. For items worth $1,000 or less, it is a Class A misdemeanor. Many first-time defendants may qualify for diversion, which can end in dismissal and a clean record, but that depends on the facts and should be discussed with a lawyer before your first court date. Shoplifting is charged as theft Tennessee has no separate "shoplifting" crime. Taking propert

If you have a warrant in Sumner County, do not ignore it and do not wait to be stopped. Call a criminal defense lawyer, confirm what the warrant is for, and plan to turn yourself in with bond arranged. A warrant does not go away on its own, and a missed court date can become a new criminal charge. How warrants work in Sumner County An arrest warrant is a court order to arrest you on a charge. In Sumner County, judicial commissioners review sworn complaints, decide whether the

A Tennessee expungement of a dismissed charge can move fairly quickly once the petition is filed. A conviction takes longer: you must first wait 5 or 10 years after finishing your sentence, and after you file, the court cannot rule for at least 61 days. Once the order is signed, state law sets deadlines for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and other agencies to clear their records. First: which kind of record do you have? In 2025 Tennessee reorganized its expungeme

Both kinds of diversion can end a Tennessee criminal case in dismissal instead of a conviction, and both can lead to expungement. The key difference: pretrial diversion pauses the case with no guilty plea, by agreement with the prosecutor, while judicial diversion comes after a guilty plea or finding, and the judge holds off on entering a conviction while you complete probation. Each is available only once in your life. Pretrial diversion (Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-15-105) How it

Often, yes. Tennessee lets many people who lose their license for a DUI, or for refusing a breath or blood test, ask a judge for a restricted license (Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-409). Whether you qualify, and whether you must use an ignition interlock device, depends on your test result, your record and what happened during the arrest. How long you lose your license After a DUI conviction, the court must bar you from driving for (Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-404): First offense: 1 ye

After a DUI arrest in Sumner County, you are booked, a judicial officer sets your bond, and your case starts in Sumner County General Sessions Court in Gallatin. Your driver's license is affected on two tracks: the DUI charge itself and, if you refused a breath or blood test, a separate implied consent charge. Here is the timeline, step by step, under current Tennessee law. Step 1: The stop, the arrest and the test Every driver in Tennessee is treated as having agreed in adva