2023 Tennessee Code › Title 40 - CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (§§ 40-1-101 — 40-39-306) › Chapter 25 - FEES OF OFFICERS (§§ 40-25-101 — 40-25-144) › Section 40-25-129 - Liability of state or county for costs or fees - Advancement or reimbursement of witness expenses

(a)
Neither the state nor any county of the state shall pay or be liable in any criminal prosecution for any costs or fees hereafter accruing, except in the following classes of cases:
(1)
All felony cases, where prosecution has proceeded to a verdict in the circuit or criminal court;
(2)
All cases where the defendant has been convicted in a court of record and the court has made a finding at any evidentiary hearing that the defendant is indigent and remains indigent at the time of conviction or where the execution issued upon the judgment against the defendant has been returned nulla bona. Neither the state of Tennessee nor any county of the state shall be liable for or pay any costs in any criminal case, where security has been accepted by the officer taking the security, and an execution, afterwards returned nulla bona, as to the defendant and the defendant's securities. Compensation for boarding prisoners (§§
8-26-105
,
40-25-118
- 40-25-121, and 41-4-131 - 41-4-137), expenses of keeping and boarding juries (§§
40-25-115
- 40-25-121), compensation of jurors (§§
22-4-101
- 22-4-107 and 40-18-107), costs of transcripts in cases taken to the supreme court by appeal or writ of error as provided by law, mileage and legal fees for removing or conveying criminals and prisoners from one (1) county to another, or from one (1) jail to another (§
8-21-901(a)(3)(D)
), and compensation and mileage of witnesses for the state duly subpoenaed and required to attend before any court, grand jury or magistrate in a county other than that of their residence and more than five (5) miles from their residence (§§
24-4-102
and
40-17-112
), and where any witness for the state shall be confined in jail to await the trial in which the witness is to testify, shall be paid in all cases as heretofore; and
(3)
(A)
When a criminal prosecution is instituted against a state prison inmate because of conduct within a department of correction penal institution or because of conduct relative to an escape attempt from a penal institution, the expense of the prosecution imposed on the county wherein the institution is located shall be reimbursed to the county by the state. When a criminal prosecution is instituted against a juvenile committed to the department of children's services and placed in a youth center because of conduct within the youth center or because of conduct relative to an escape attempt from the youth center, the expense of the prosecution imposed on the county wherein the youth center is located shall be reimbursed to the county by the state;
(B)
For the purpose of this section only, "expense imposed on the county" means the expense of keeping and boarding jurors pursuant to §§
40-25-115
- 40-25-121 and the compensation and mileage allowance of jurors pursuant to title 22, chapter 4, and §
40-18-107
.
(b)
Any bill of costs or other fees owed a county by the department of correction as the result of a criminal conviction in that county shall be paid by the department within one hundred twenty (120) days of the date the bill is submitted.
(c)
(1)
Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), the department of correction, through the judicial accountant, shall advance or reimburse witness expenses necessary to the prosecution of a criminal case as requested by the district attorney general and approved by the court. In such cases, a determination of indigency is not required; however, the county shall seek to recover the costs of the advance or reimbursement of witness expenses from a convicted defendant as provided in subdivision (a)(2) or another appropriate provision.
(2)
If advance witness fees are requested, then the itemized request must be submitted to the judicial cost accountant at least ten (10) business days prior to trial and otherwise conform to the requirements as set forth by the judicial cost accountant.
(3)
If reimbursement of witness fees is requested, then the request must meet the following requirements:
(A)
The witness was material and necessary to the case and the witness lives more than five (5) miles away from the place the witness was subpoenaed to attend or otherwise meets the requirements in subdivision (a)(2) and §§
24-4-102
and
40-17-112
;
(B)
An itemized list of expenses must be provided consistent with state travel regulations; and
(C)
The request for fees must be certified by the district attorney general and approved by the court.
(4)
When payment occurs in accordance with subdivision (c)(2) or (c)(3), the department of correction shall maintain the payment as a receivable against the final cost bill attributed to the case in which witness fees were advanced or reimbursed. Dollars advanced or reimbursed under this section must be deducted from the final cost bill submitted in the case.
(5)
This section does not absolve a convicted defendant of liability of cost.
(6)
This section does not absolve the county of the responsibility to seek execution upon judgment against the defendant in accordance with subdivision (a)(2).
(7)
This section does not prohibit the department of correction from collecting from an inmate trust fund in accordance with §
40-25-143
.
(d)
This section must be applied liberally to effectuate witnesses for the state being advanced or reimbursed for the cost of all witness expenses allowable under the law in the shortest timeframe possible. This section applies to all cases that fall within the intent of this subsection (d) prior to, or on or after April 13, 2023.
Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 147, Secs.s 1, s 2eff. 4/13/2023.
Amended by 2022 Tenn. Acts, ch. 980, s 1, eff. 5/3/2022.
Amended by 2016 Tenn. Acts, ch. 782, s 1, eff. 7/1/2016.
Acts 1897, ch. 20, § 1; 1899, ch. 307, § 1; Shan., § 7622a1; Code 1932, § 12246; Acts 1965, ch. 355, § 4; 1969, ch. 264, §1; impl. am. Acts 1974, ch. 556, § 1; Acts 1980, ch. 625, § 1; 1982, ch. 785, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 40-3331; Acts 1989, ch. 278, § 52; 1996, ch. 1079, § 126.