Legal Question in Criminal Law in Tennessee

In most counties the Grand Jury will meet every month, but in some counties the Grand Jury meets every other month, or may skip a month.

As a general rule, a case will be presented to the next term of the Grand Jury after bind over, provided there is enough time for the subpoenas to be issued, and the laboratory results are back, etc.

For example, assuming the Grand Jury in your county meets monthly, a case bound over to the Grand Jury in the month of July will probably not be presented to the July Term, but should appear before the August Term. If a true bill (indictment) is returned, you would normally be arraigned in Circuit Court on a non-jury court date in September.

You need to remember these things while in a "bindover status":

1 - Make sure you keep your bondsman (or the clerk of the court, if you are on your own bond) up to date on your address and telephone number. That's how they will notify you of your arraignment date.

2 - If several months go by and you have not heard from the court, call the clerk of the court and ask for the status of your case. It would be great if the defendant was always notified that the Grand Jury returned a "no true bill" (in effect, dismissing the charges) but I have found that there is little effort to notify the defendant in such a case.