Hamilton County criminal court records are maintained primarily by the Criminal Court Clerk in Chattanooga. The Clerk supports both Criminal Court and the criminal division of General Sessions Court, but the two courts handle different stages and types of criminal cases. Hamilton County also publishes online dockets, court-date/disposition information, grand-jury lists, bonds and other case information, while the Sheriff’s Office separately provides inmate, booking and open-warrant resources.
First identify which Hamilton County criminal court has the case
Hamilton County’s criminal records are split mainly between General Sessions Criminal Court and Criminal Court. Searching the wrong division can make a legitimate case appear missing.
Misdemeanors, traffic and early felony proceedings
General Sessions Criminal Court enters judgments in misdemeanor criminal cases and traffic offenses. It also conducts preliminary hearings in felony cases to determine whether sufficient cause exists to bind the matter over to the Grand Jury.
Indicted felonies and appealed cases
Criminal Court handles felony and misdemeanor cases after Grand Jury indictment, original presentment or information, and criminal appeals from General Sessions or local municipal courts.
Search Hamilton County Criminal Court cases and court dates
Hamilton County publishes a Criminal Court Dispositions and Court Dates system from its official Criminal Court docket page.
Open the official Criminal Court Dockets page
Use the county government page and select Criminal Court Dispositions and Court Dates.
Read and accept the county disclaimer
Hamilton County warns that online information is informational, may contain name confusion and should be verified with the Clerk when accuracy matters.
Search the available case information
Use the defendant and case information available in the county system. When you already know the docket/case number, use it to reduce the risk of matching the wrong person.
Check court date and disposition
Review whether the matter is pending and how each charge was ultimately resolved.
Search Hamilton County Sessions Criminal Court records
Use Sessions Criminal Court when the matter involves a misdemeanor, state traffic offense or the preliminary stage of a felony case.
Open the Sessions Criminal Dockets page
Hamilton County publishes a dedicated page separate from Criminal Court.
Select “Sessions Criminal Court Dispositions and Court Dates”
This opens the county’s case-information disclaimer before the search system.
Check whether the matter stayed in Sessions
A misdemeanor may end there. A felony may instead be bound over for Grand Jury consideration.
If bound over, switch to Criminal Court
Search the Criminal Court disposition/docket system for later proceedings after indictment.
Contact for verification
Court of General Sessions600 Market Street, Room 108
Chattanooga, TN 37402
Phone: 423-209-7600
Hamilton County Criminal Court dockets
The Criminal Court Clerk publishes several useful docket lists for upcoming proceedings.
Court’s Trial Docket
Upcoming cases scheduled for trial.
Weekly Docket Schedule
Useful for seeing the coming week’s Criminal Court schedule.
Arraignment Docket
Cases scheduled for arraignment proceedings.
Scheduling Dockets
Published Criminal Court scheduling lists.
Drug Court Docket
Drug Court matters included on the published docket page.
Weekly Master Docket
Hamilton County also publishes a weekly master docket organized by bondsman.
Sessions Criminal dockets
Sessions Criminal Court separately publishes:
- 7-Day Criminal Docket
- 7-Day Docket by arresting agency/officer
- Master Docket by bondsman
- Sessions dispositions and court dates
How to read a Hamilton County criminal disposition
A disposition is the result of a criminal charge. Do not confuse an arrest or original charge with the final disposition.
| Term | What it generally means | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Guilty | The matter resulted in a conviction. | Sentence and any later appeal. |
| Not Guilty | The defendant was acquitted of the charge. | Whether other counts remained. |
| Dismissed | The charge was dismissed. | Whether all charges were dismissed. |
| Nolle prosequi | The prosecution discontinued the charge. | The exact docket entry and later filings. |
| Diversion | A Tennessee diversion process may apply. | Whether diversion was successfully completed and later expunged. |
| Bound over | A felony matter moved beyond the Sessions preliminary stage. | Grand Jury and later Criminal Court record. |
Grand Jury true bills, no bills and dismissed matters
Hamilton County’s Criminal Court docket page publishes separate Grand Jury lists.
Indictment returned
A true bill generally means the Grand Jury found sufficient basis for an indictment. It is not a conviction.
No indictment
A no bill means the Grand Jury did not return an indictment on the matter presented.
Grand Jury dismissed list
The county also posts a separate Grand Jury dismissed list on its Criminal Court docket page.
Criminal bonds and bond status
Hamilton County’s Criminal Court Clerk also publishes Criminal Court bond information.
- active bonds
- bond forfeitures
- bond judgments
- Sessions Criminal bond information
For a person currently held in the Hamilton County Jail, the Sheriff’s inmate system can also provide charge and bond information.
Get an official or certified Hamilton County criminal court record
The county’s online case files are useful for research, but Hamilton County specifically says the Criminal Court Clerk charges a fee for record searches and certified criminal-record documentation.
Find the court and case number
Use the online disposition/docket systems first so you can give the Clerk a precise case reference.
Identify the document you need
Ask for the judgment, disposition, indictment, sentencing record or other specific public document rather than requesting an undefined entire file.
Ask whether certification is required
An ordinary copy may be sufficient for personal research. Legal, immigration, licensing or official purposes may require certification.
Confirm the current fee
The Clerk publishes that fees apply but does not present one universal online amount for every criminal-record request. Call before mailing payment.
Hamilton County Criminal Court Clerk contact information
Criminal Court Clerk
Courts Building, Room 102600 Market Street
Chattanooga, TN 37402
Phone:
423-209-7500
Fax: 423-209-7501
Hours:
Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., except county holidays.
Sessions Criminal Clerk
Courts Building, Room 108600 Market Street
Chattanooga, TN 37402
Case verification: 423-209-7600
The Criminal Court Clerk’s office also operates a General Sessions criminal office at the jail for law-enforcement processing.
Hamilton County jail, booking and recent-arrest information
A recent arrest can appear in the Sheriff’s custody system before the court case has progressed through General Sessions or Criminal Court.
Use the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and select the inmate information option.
Inmate information
Hamilton County Jail & Detention Center601 Justice Way
Chattanooga, TN 37421
Inmate / charge information: 423-209-7050
The Sheriff’s online booking system may provide current charges and bond information.
Search open Hamilton County warrants
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office provides a free online Open Warrants search.
You can search by:
- first name
- last name
- warrant number
- partial address
Official search: Hamilton County Open Warrants .
Hamilton County Sheriff incident and arrest-related reports
Sheriff’s incident reports are separate from court case records.
Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office says accident and incident reports can be requested through its Records Office at: 423-209-7111.
Tennessee statewide criminal-history search
A Hamilton County court search only covers Hamilton County court records. For broader Tennessee criminal-history information, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation operates Tennessee Open Records Information Services (TORIS).
Tennessee only
The public TORIS search checks Tennessee adult criminal-history information rather than a nationwide court record.
Name-based
TBI states that the general public TORIS search is name-based and does not require fingerprints.
$29 per request
The current general-public Tennessee criminal-history check is $29 and non-refundable.
Official service: Tennessee Open Records Information Services .
Search Hamilton County criminal appeals
A Criminal Court judgment can later be reviewed by the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals and, in some matters, the Tennessee Supreme Court.
Use the Tennessee appellate Appellate Case Search when the Hamilton County docket indicates an appeal.
Appellate records can show:
- trial court case number
- appellate case number
- briefs
- orders
- opinions
- decision date
- appellate disposition
- mandate
What to do when an older Hamilton County case is not online
Online coverage is useful but should not be treated as proof that no historical criminal case exists.
Search both court divisions
An old felony may have a Sessions preliminary record and a later Criminal Court record.
Try the known docket number
A case identifier is more useful than repeatedly searching a common name.
Call the Criminal Court Clerk
Ask whether the case requires a staff record search or access to older archived material.
Request the final disposition
If your goal is simply to determine the outcome, requesting the judgment/disposition can be more practical than obtaining the entire file.
Expunged Hamilton County criminal records
Tennessee permits expungement in a number of circumstances. A qualifying case may therefore no longer appear in an ordinary public criminal-record search.
Tennessee Courts says free expungement may be available for certain outcomes such as:
- dismissed charges
- Grand Jury no true bill
- arrest and release without charge
- not-guilty verdict
- nolle prosequi
Some misdemeanor and felony convictions may also qualify under separate Tennessee conviction-expungement rules.
Federal criminal cases in the Chattanooga area
Federal prosecutions are separate from Hamilton County Criminal Court.
Use PACER for federal criminal case dockets and documents.
A Hamilton County or TBI search should not be interpreted as a search of federal criminal court records.
Map: Hamilton County Courts Building
The Criminal Court Clerk’s Criminal Court office is in Room 102 at 600 Market Street in downtown Chattanooga.
Hamilton County criminal-court search tips
Search Sessions and Criminal Court
A felony can start in Sessions and continue in Criminal Court after Grand Jury action.
Use the disposition search
It is more useful for individual case history than scanning only weekly docket PDFs.
Save the docket number
It makes Clerk verification and certified-copy requests faster.
Online docket can change
The original court docket controls; online copies may not show late changes.
Check Grand Jury status
True bills, no bills and dismissed lists help explain what happened after a felony preliminary proceeding.
Recent arrest? Use the Sheriff
Jail and booking data can appear before the later court history is complete.
Warrants before 2008 are not online
The Sheriff’s public warrant database currently excludes warrants issued before January 1, 2008.
Use TBI for Tennessee-wide history
Hamilton County records do not show criminal-history records from every Tennessee county.
Verify same-name matches
Hamilton County itself warns that people with the same name can be confused in online records.
Hamilton County, Tennessee criminal court records: FAQs
1. Can I search Hamilton County criminal court cases online?
Yes. Hamilton County provides Criminal Court and Sessions Criminal Court disposition/court-date searches through its official docket pages.
2. What is the difference between Criminal Court and Sessions Criminal Court?
Sessions Criminal Court handles misdemeanor judgments, state traffic cases and preliminary felony hearings. Criminal Court handles indictments, presentments, informations and criminal appeals from lower courts.
3. Are Hamilton County online criminal records official certified records?
No. The county describes the online information as informational and directs users to the Criminal Court Clerk for verification or certified documentation.
4. How often are Hamilton County Criminal Court dockets updated?
The county says Criminal Court dockets are updated every Thursday for the following week, while the weekly master docket is updated every Monday. The original court docket can contain changes not reflected online.
5. How do I get a certified Hamilton County criminal court record?
Contact the Hamilton County Criminal Court Clerk at 423-209-7500. The office charges fees for record searches and certified criminal-record documentation; confirm the current cost before ordering.
6. How do I find someone in Hamilton County Jail?
Use the Hamilton County Sheriff’s inmate information system or call the jail’s inmate-information line at 423-209-7050.
7. Can I search Hamilton County warrants online?
Yes. The Sheriff’s Office provides an Open Warrants search by name, warrant number or partial address. It is updated daily, but warrants issued before January 1, 2008 are not displayed.
8. Does a Hamilton County search cover all Tennessee criminal records?
No. Hamilton County records cover local cases. For Tennessee-wide criminal-history information, TBI operates a separate name-based public background-check service called TORIS.
9. How much does a Tennessee TBI background check cost?
TBI currently charges $29 for a general-public Tennessee-only name-based criminal-history check through TORIS.
10. Why can’t I find an old Hamilton County criminal case?
Possible reasons include searching the wrong court division, historical online limitations, expungement, a name variation or a record that requires a Clerk search. Contact the Criminal Court Clerk when online searches are inconclusive.
Official Hamilton County and Tennessee resources
- Hamilton County Criminal Court Clerk
- Hamilton County Criminal Court Dockets
- Hamilton County Sessions Criminal Court Dockets
- Hamilton County Court System
- Hamilton County Criminal Courts
- Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office
- Hamilton County Open Warrants
- Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Background Checks
- TBI Tennessee Open Records Information Services
- TBI Diversions, Expungements & Dispositions
- Tennessee Appellate Case Search
- PACER Federal Court Records