(a) When a person is sentenced to imprisonment, the judgment of the court shall be rendered so that the sentence shall commence on the day on which the defendant legally comes into the custody of the sheriff for execution of the judgment of imprisonment.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 40-23-101

  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Arraignment: A proceeding in which an individual who is accused of committing a crime is brought into court, told of the charges, and asked to plead guilty or not guilty.
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(b)

(1) This section shall not apply in a case where, after the rendition of the judgment of imprisonment, an execution of the judgment is stayed by appeal or otherwise.
(2) This section shall not interfere with the operation of the statute requiring sheriffs in whose custody defendants come for execution of judgments of imprisonment to commit those defendants as soon as possible to jail or to the warden of the penitentiary.
(c) The trial court shall, at the time the sentence is imposed and the defendant is committed to jail, the workhouse or the state penitentiary for imprisonment, render the judgment of the court so as to allow the defendant credit on the sentence for any period of time for which the defendant was committed and held in the city jail or juvenile court detention prior to waiver of juvenile court jurisdiction, or county jail or workhouse, pending arraignment and trial. The defendant shall also receive credit on the sentence for the time served in the jail, workhouse or penitentiary subsequent to any conviction arising out of the original offense for which the defendant was tried.
(d) In the event the person sentenced appeals the cause to the supreme court and is required to spend time in jail pending the appeal, the supreme court may modify the original sentence allowing a reduction for the time spent in jail pending an appeal upon a petition being filed in the defendant’s behalf setting out the time spent in jail within five (5) days after the announcement of the supreme court decision; provided, that the facts alleged in the petition are verified by the clerk of the court where the sentence was imposed. This section applies in both felony and misdemeanor cases.
(e) A certified copy of the order modifying the original sentence in each case shall be forwarded by the clerk of the supreme court to the warden of the state penitentiary.