Generally, all cases involving juveniles are reserved for the juvenile court, and city courts have no original jurisdiction over juveniles, including cases involving traffic violations. All juvenile traffic offenders must, therefore, be tried in juvenile court, absent a waiver by the judge. T.C.A. § 37-1-103. The judge of a juvenile court for the county may waive jurisdiction over traffic violators who are 16 years of age or older (which really means ages 16 and 17 years old, because even if a person is 18 in high school, the fact the driver is 18 years old makes he or she an adult and municipal court would be the proper jurisdiction). If the juvenile court judge waives jurisdiction, the city court can try those juvenile traffic cases. T.C.A. § 37-1-146(c) and §16-18-302(d).

If the court finds the juvenile to be guilty of a traffic offense, the court may make one or any combination of the following decisions:

1. Suspend and hold the juvenile’s driver's license for a specified or indefinite period of time (note: hold simply means taking the child's driver's license and putting it away somewhere safe in the city hall to be returned at a later date at the judge's discretion. You do not have to report any hold of a child's driver's license to the Department of Safety);
2. Limit the juvenile’s driving privileges as an order of the court;
3. Order the juvenile to attend traffic school or to receive driving instructions;
4. Impose a fine of not more than $50 against the child's parents or legal guardians; and/or
5. Perform community service work in lieu of a fine. T.C.A. §37-1-146(b).
   1. Item 5 was added to T.C.A. §37-1-146(b) in 2016, per Public Chapter 600. City courts may not have authority to impose item 5 because typically community service is associated with criminal courts.