The grand jury is a group of thirteen people who meet in secret. Neither you nor your attorney will know when the grand jury meets to discuss your case nor will you nor your attorney be allowed to attend. The grand jury will hear only from the individuals subpoenaed by the sheriff at the request of the District Attorneys office.

The grand jury makes the same determination that a Sessions Court judge makes, a probable cause finding…is there some factual basis to justify the arrest warrant.

Since the grand jury only hears state's witnesses, it should come as no surprise that the grand jury returns indictments against nearly every person charged with a criminal violation.

The grand jury returns what is called an indictment. It becomes the new charging instrument, replacing the warrant that you were initially arrested on.

It is important for you to understand, the grand jury is not bound by the charges that were initially brought against you at the sessions level. In other words, the grand jury can increase the severity of the charges against you or add new charges.

Once the grand jury returns an indictment against you, you will be notified by mail by the Criminal Court clerk's office when and where to appear in Criminal Court for your arraignment. The clerk will send notification to you in the form of a post card in the mail sent to the address listed on your arrest warrant. It is very important to you that the clerk's office has an accurate address to notify you. Otherwise, you will not be informed of your arraignment and the Criminal Court judge will issue an arrest order for your failure to appear at your arraignment.

The Criminal Court clerk is Ms. Martha Phillips. Her mailing address is City/County Building, 400 Main Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Her telephone number is 215-2492.

You and your case are important to us. Life can be difficult enough without a criminal conviction on your record. Please cooperate with your lawyer. We want to resolve your case in the best possible way.