The Court of Criminal Appeals is one of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

's two intermediate appellate courts. It hears

trial court A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). ...

appeals in

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

and misdemeanor cases, as well as post-

conviction In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is Guilty (law), guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a ...

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. Appeals in civil cases are heard by the Tennessee Court of Appeals. The Court of Criminal Appeals was established by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1967. At that time, the court had nine members. Its membership was increased from nine to twelve on September 1, 1996, as a result of action by the General Assembly.

Proceedings

The court's judges sit monthly in panels of three in Jackson, Knoxville and

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. The court may meet in other locations as necessary. As an appellate court, there are no juries and the court does not hear

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from witnesses. Rather, attorneys present oral and written arguments for the court's consideration. Decisions of the Court of Criminal Appeals decisions may be appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court by permission. All decisions in capital cases are, however, appealed automatically.

Judges

The

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

s are elected to eight-year terms. If a vacancy occurs during a judge's term, the

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appoints a new judge to serve until the next August of an even-numbered year, when a state

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

is held. The names of incumbent judges up for reelection, including judges appointed to fill vacancies, are listed on the ballot without opposition. They are retained or rejected based on a "yes-no" vote. (See Tennessee Plan.) The twelve judges sitting on the Court as of May 2024 are:

References

Intermediate Appellate Courts
in the Tennessee Blue Book {{Authority control State appellate courts of the United States Tennessee state courts Courts and tribunals established in 1967 1967 establishments in Tennessee