Court Costs

The Municipal Court Reform Act of 2004 provides the authority for municipalities to set court costs. Court costs are to be set by municipal ordinance. T.C.A. § 16-18-304(a). Out of the court costs, two dollars ($2.00) of the court costs shall be forwarded by the municipal court clerk to the state treasurer for deposit and shall be credited to the account for the administrative office of the courts (AOC) for the sole purpose of defraying the administrative director's expenses in providing training and continuing education courses for municipal court judges and municipal court clerks.

The law does not specify a court cost amount, leaving the amount to the discretion of the city. However, the city should ensure that there is a rational basis for the court cost.

Court costs are designed to offset the cost of maintaining the court. Even when a violator pays before court and does not appear for a court hearing, there still are costs associated with maintaining the court such as court software, clerk time preparing the docket, paying the judge, etc. that will be incurred by the city if the defendant shows up to court or not. It is suggested that the city charge uniform court costs for all charges, regardless of whether the defendant appears in court or pays before court.

For a more detailed analysis of court costs, please refer to the discussion of court costs in our MORe directory: https://www.mtas.tennessee.edu/reference/municipal-court-costs

Also, for a link to a more detailed analysis of court costs, please see this 2025 publication found at: https://mrln.mtas.tennessee.edu/se/final/Portal/Default.aspx?component=b-USER&record=f89249e1-f64e-4b1e-a21a-883b99d2d88a