Rule 4 Arrest Warrant or Summons on a Complaint

(a) Issuance of Warrant or Summons. If the affidavit of complaint and any supporting affidavits filed with it establish that there is probable cause to believe that an offense has been committed and that the defendant has committed it, the magistrate or clerk shall issue an arrest warrant to an officer authorized by law to execute it or shall issue a criminal summons for the appearance of the defendant. More than one warrant or criminal summons may issue on the same complaint.

(1) District Attorney General’s Choice. The district attorney general may direct the clerk to issue either a criminal summons or a warrant.

(2) Examination Under Oath. Before ruling on a request for a warrant, the magistrate or clerk may examine under oath the complainant and any witnesses the complainant produces.

(3) Record of Issuance. The general sessions court clerk shall promptly record in a docket book the issuance of every warrant and summons in the county.

(4) Failure to Appear for Summons. A warrant shall issue for a defendant who fails to appear in response to a criminal summons.

(b) Evidence of Probable Cause for Warrant or Summons. The finding of probable cause shall be based on evidence which may be hearsay in whole or in part provided there is a substantial basis to believe:

(1) the source of the hearsay is credible; and

(2) there is a factual basis for the information furnished.

(c) Form.

(1) Warrant. The arrest warrant shall:

(A) be signed by the magistrate or clerk;

(B) contain the name of the defendant or, if this name is unknown, any name or description by which the defendant can be identified with reasonable certainty;

(C) indicate the county in which the warrant is issued;

(D) describe the offense charged in the affidavit of complaint; and

(E) order that the defendant be arrested and brought before the nearest appropriate magistrate in the county of arrest.

(2) Summons. The criminal summons shall be in the same form as the arrest warrant except that it orders the defendant to appear before a magistrate at a stated time and place.

(d) Bail When Warrant Issued in One County and Executed in Another. A defendant arrested in one county on a warrant issued in another county for the commission of an offense for which the maximum punishment is imprisonment for ten (10) years or less is entitled to be admitted to bail in the county of arrest by the same officials and in the same manner as if arrested in the county issuing the warrant, subject to the following provisions:

(1) the appropriate clerk or magistrate shall determine the amount of bail and state it on the face of the warrant; and

(2) the sheriff or deputy sheriff of the county in which the arrest is made shall transmit the undertaking of bail to the sheriff of the county from which the warrant issued, who shall return it to the court as provided in T.C.A. § 40-11-106.

(e) Execution or Service; Return.

(1) By Whom. The arrest warrant shall be executed by an officer authorized by law. The criminal summons shall be served by a person authorized to serve a summons in a civil action.

(2) Territorial Limits. The arrest warrant or criminal summons may be executed or served in any Tennessee county.

(3) Manner.

(A) Warrant. An arrest warrant is executed by arresting the defendant. The arresting officer need not have the warrant in the officer's possession at the time of the arrest, but on request shall show the warrant to the defendant as soon as possible. If the arresting officer does not have possession of the warrant at the time of the arrest, the officer shall inform the defendant of the offense charged and that a warrant has been issued.

(B) Summons. A criminal summons is served in the same manner as a summons in a civil action.

(4) Return; Cancellation; Reissuance.

(A) Return. The officer executing a warrant shall return it to the magistrate or clerk or other officer before whom the defendant is brought pursuant to Rule 5. On or before the return day, the person to whom a criminal summons is delivered for service shall make a return to the magistrate or clerk before whom the summons is returnable.

(B) Cancellation of Unexecuted Warrant. At the district attorney general’s request, any unexecuted warrant shall be returned to the magistrate or clerk by whom it was issued, who shall cancel it.

(C) Re-Execution or Renewed Service of Warrant or Summons. At the district attorney general’s request made while the affidavit of complaint is pending, the magistrate or clerk may deliver to any authorized person for execution or service the original or a duplicate of:

(i) a warrant, returned unexecuted and not cancelled; or

(ii) a summons returned unserved.