Misdemeanor Probation in Madisonville, TN: Rules, Costs, and Violations

Misdemeanor probation in Madisonville, Tennessee, means serving your sentence in the community under supervision instead of sitting in the Monroe County jail. The General Sessions Court sets the terms, and a private probation company handles the day-to-day: check-ins, drug tests, fee collection, and reports back to the judge. The length of your probation cannot exceed the maximum jail time for your offense class, which tops out at 11 months and 29 days for a Class A misdemeanor. The judge keeps the final word on anything serious, including revocation.

How Long Probation Lasts

Tennessee sorts misdemeanors into three classes, and the class sets the ceiling on both jail time and probation. Under Tennessee Code 40-35-111:¹

Class A: up to 11 months and 29 days in jail, fine up to $2,500, or both.
Class B: up to 6 months, fine up to $500, or both.
Class C: up to 30 days, fine up to $50, or both.

Your probation term cannot run longer than those jail maximums. A Class C conviction, for example, caps probation at 30 days. The judge picks the specific length within that range at sentencing and can also order you to serve part of the sentence in jail before the probation portion starts, which shortens the time you spend reporting.²

What You’ll Have to Do

Tennessee Code 40-35-303(d) lists conditions a judge may impose, and the statute’s “may include, but are not limited to” language gives judges room to tailor the terms to the offense.³ Common requirements include:

Regular reporting to your probation officer on a set schedule.
Maintaining steady work or actively pursuing a job or vocational training.
Staying within court-set geographic boundaries and immediately reporting any change of address or employer.
No firearms or other dangerous weapons during the probation period.
Substance abuse assessment or treatment if the court considers it appropriate, often paired with random drug and alcohol screenings.
Community service for charitable or government organizations.
Restitution to any victim.
Transdermal or similar monitoring devices if drugs or alcohol contributed to the offense.

For stalking, domestic violence, and similar offenses, the judge can order you to stay away from the victim’s home, workplace, or school, and prohibit any direct or indirect contact.³ A catch-all provision allows any condition “reasonably related to the purpose of the offender’s sentence.”

After sentencing, you go through intake with the assigned probation agency, which opens your file, walks you through the conditions, and schedules your first reporting appointment. Your probation officer is your main contact for the length of the sentence, but the judge decides any dispute about compliance or any request to modify conditions.

What It Costs

Probation is not free. You will owe court costs, any fines the judge imposed, and a monthly supervision fee collected by the private probation company at your check-ins. The supervision fee typically runs about $35 to $45 per month, with the exact amount depending on the supervising agency. Restitution, if ordered, adds to the total.

If you genuinely cannot pay, inability alone should not send you to jail. Under longstanding constitutional principles, a court cannot revoke probation solely because someone is too poor to pay without first determining whether the failure was willful. The practical rule: raise the issue with your probation officer and the court before you stop paying. Ignoring the obligation reads as defiance; asking for relief reads as good faith. Courts can adjust payment schedules or reduce amounts.

What Counts as a Violation

Tennessee’s revocation statute separates technical violations from new criminal conduct, and the distinction shapes the court’s response.⁴

A technical violation is breaking a condition without committing a new crime: a missed check-in, a failed drug test, leaving the county without permission, falling behind on fees. For these, the statute lets the judge issue a criminal summons rather than an arrest warrant, so you get a court date instead of handcuffs. The response is often graduated: a warning, tighter conditions, extended probation, or a short jail stay rather than full revocation.

A substantive violation means an arrest or new charge while on probation. Courts treat these harder because a new offense suggests probation isn’t working. Even if the new charge is later dismissed or reduced, the judge can still revoke based on the underlying conduct.

What Happens at a Revocation Hearing

Once you are arrested or appear on the summons date, the court holds a revocation hearing. You have the right to be present, the right to an attorney, and the right to present evidence and testimony.⁴ The prosecution only needs to prove the violation by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not. That is a much lower bar than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard at trial, which is where many people get caught off guard.

If the judge finds a violation, the options range from continuing probation with stricter conditions to full revocation. Revocation means serving the original jail sentence that was suspended when you were placed on probation. For a Class A misdemeanor, that can be up to 11 months and 29 days behind bars.¹ Get a lawyer for this stage if you don’t already have one. Revocation hearings are where people lose months of their lives on a lower standard of proof.

Judicial Diversion: Avoiding a Conviction Altogether

If you have not been sentenced yet, ask your attorney about judicial diversion. Under Tennessee Code 40-35-313, a judge can defer proceedings, place you on probation, and never enter a guilty verdict even though you pled guilty or no contest at the start.⁵ Complete the probation period without violations and the court discharges you and dismisses the case. The dismissal is not treated as a conviction for any legal purpose.

Eligibility is narrow. To qualify, you must:

Have no prior felony conviction or Class A misdemeanor conviction involving jail time.
Have never previously received judicial diversion or pretrial diversion.
Not be charged with a sexual offense, DUI, vehicular assault, or a Class A or B felony.

The diversion period for a misdemeanor runs at least as long as the maximum sentence for the charge, so up to 11 months and 29 days for a Class A.⁵ You pay a monthly supervision fee of $10 to $35 plus any counseling or treatment costs. The judge can also require up to 30 days of jail as a condition, though that is uncommon for lower-level misdemeanors.

After successful completion, you can petition to have records of the arrest, charge, and dismissal expunged. Judicial diversion is a once-in-a-lifetime option, so if you qualify, it is usually the best outcome on the table. Violate the conditions and the court enters the guilty verdict and sentences you as if diversion never happened.

Expungement After a Misdemeanor Conviction

If you were convicted outright, Tennessee still offers an expungement path for many misdemeanors. Under Tennessee Code 40-32-101, a person convicted of a misdemeanor committed on or after November 1, 1989, can petition to have the records destroyed, as long as the offense is not on the excluded list.⁶

Exclusions include domestic assault, stalking, aggravated criminal trespass of a home or school, certain child abuse and neglect charges, and violations of protective orders, among others. The full list is long, so check the statute if your conviction is anywhere near those categories. You must also have finished your entire sentence, probation included, before filing. A filing fee applies, and a successful petition removes the arrest, charge, and conviction from public records.

Moving Out of State During Probation

You cannot simply pack up and leave. Interstate transfers of probation supervision are governed by the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision, which Tennessee participates in. The compact sets when a receiving state must accept your case and when acceptance is discretionary.

For a mandatory transfer, you generally need more than 90 days of supervision remaining, a valid plan showing where you will live and work, substantial compliance with your current conditions, and a connection to the new state through family willing to help, a job lined up, or prior residency. Your probation officer submits the request to Tennessee’s compact office, which forwards it to the receiving state. That state has 45 days to investigate and respond.

If you don’t meet the mandatory criteria, the receiving state can choose whether to accept you. Discretionary transfers are harder to get approved, especially for short misdemeanor terms where the administrative burden may not seem worth it to the receiving state. Until the transfer is officially approved, you remain under Monroe County’s jurisdiction and must keep complying with every current condition. Leaving without approval is itself a probation violation.

Finishing Probation

As the end date approaches, the probation office reviews your file: fees paid, community service completed, treatment finished, no outstanding violations. If everything checks out, probation expires on the scheduled date without any further court appearance, and your reporting obligations end. If something is incomplete, the agency flags it, and the court may extend probation or take other action before the term runs out. Clearing conditions early rather than at the deadline is the safer play.