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Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-609

Failure to appear

Applied in 1 court decision — leading case State v. Harton (2002)

Most recently applied in State v. Harton (May 2002)

Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1; 1990, ch. 709, § 1; 1990, ch. 980, § 16; 1997, ch. 317, § 1; 1998, ch. 1049, § 15; 2004, ch. 727, § 1; 2019, ch. 486, § 4.

(1) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly fail to appear as directed by a lawful authority if the person: Has been lawfully issued a criminal summons pursuant to § 40-6-215;

(2) Has been lawfully commanded to appear for booking and processing pursuant to a criminal summons issued in accordance with § 40-6-215;

(3) Has been lawfully issued a citation in lieu of arrest under § 40-7-118;

(4) Has been lawfully released from custody, with or without bail, on condition of subsequent appearance at an official proceeding or penal institution at a specified time or place; or

(5) Knowingly goes into hiding to avoid prosecution or court appearance.

(6) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that: The appearance is required by a probation and parole officer as an incident of probation or parole supervision; or

(7) The person had a reasonable excuse for failure to appear at the specified time and place.

(8) Nothing in this section shall apply to witnesses.

(9) Failure to appear is a Class A misdemeanor.

(10) Any sentence received for a violation of this section must be ordered to be served consecutively to any sentence received for the offense for which the defendant failed to appear.

(11) [Deleted by 2019 amendment.]

Current official text: Tennessee Code (LexisNexis). Digitized from the UniCourt Code Improvement Commission public-domain capture. Reproduced from public-domain Tennessee statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.