Consolidation of Misdemeanor Citation Appearance Dates
Original Misdemeanor Citation Process
What is a Misdemeanor Citation? A Misdemeanor Citation can be issued by law enforcement for certain misdemeanor charges (Note: there are certain legal criteria that prevent an officer from issuing a citation) rather than being physically arrested and brought to jail.
Once issued a Misdemeanor Citation you will:
1. Go to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office’s Records and Identification Unit to get your fingerprints verified
and a picture taken – please look at your misdemeanor citation for your scheduled appointment date!
2. Go to your initial court date; depending on the outcome of this court appearance you may have to go
back to court – please look at your misdemeanor citation for your scheduled court date!
Under the original Misdemeanor Citation process, you are required to:
* Go to Records and Identification; this date normally occurs 21 days after you are given a Misdemeanor
Citation;
* Go to your initial court date; this normally occurs 28 days after you receive a Misdemeanor Citation
Meaning, you have to go to the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center twice.
New Misdemeanor Citation Process!
Understanding that coming to the Criminal Justice Center at least twice is very time consuming and may be a hardship, the local criminal justice community decided to make things simpler.
Please look at your Misdemeanor Citation closely! Due to the number of people who live in Shelby County and the number of Misdemeanor Citations that officers write, a slow roll-out of the new process must take place rather than all officers starting the new process at the same time.
We have to make sure that during this transition the court system does not have too many people at one time; all officers might be trained in 2018, but the training may continue into 2019 – we just have to make sure that the court system and officers are working together so that your time is respected.
Eventually, all officers with the Memphis Police Department and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office will use the “same day” process, but as of right now, only officers assigned to the following areas are issuing “same day” Misdemeanor Citations:
| Shelby County Sheriff's Office: Patrol Division - all shifts |
| Memphis Police Department: North Main precinct Mt. Moriah Station Appling Farms |
Instead of coming to the Criminal Justice Center twice, your Records and Identification appointment and initial court date will happen on the same day!
Once finished, staff with Records and Identification will tell you what court you need to go to. If Records and Identification staff forget to tell you, please ask before you leave!
Note! The courts are located in the lower level of 201 Poplar – you are not able to walk through the building from Records and Identification to court, you will need to walk outside and enter through one of the public entrances on Poplar or Washington. Court starts at 9am; please wait for your name to be called and follow instructions from there.
Records and Identification
201 Poplar Ave
Rm 1006 Jail Annex
Memphis, TN 38103
* Entrance is located at the green dot in the picture below
201 Poplar, Lower Level
Memphis, TN 38103
* Public entrances are located at the blue dots in the picture below
