When someone appeals a municipal court judgment to circuit court, does the city court clerk have to send the $250 appeal bond along with the case file?

Plain-English summary

A Tennessee circuit judge asked whether the municipal court clerk must forward the appeal bond to the circuit court clerk when a litigant appeals a municipal court judgment. The AG said yes.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-18-307, part of the Municipal Court Reform Act of 2004, lets a dissatisfied litigant in a municipal court appeal to circuit court within 10 days (excluding Sundays) by giving a $250 bond for the person's appearance and faithful prosecution of the appeal. The statute does not by its own terms say where to file the bond or what happens to it.

The procedural gap is filled by the general appeals-from-general-sessions framework at Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 27-5-101 to -108, which the Tennessee Court of Appeals has held to apply to city-court appeals as well (Tubwell v. City of Memphis; City of Red Boiling Springs v. Whitley). Under that framework, the required bond or pauper's oath is filed in the court from which appeal is taken (here, the municipal court). Once a proper bond is filed, the municipal court has the duty to forward the papers to the clerk of the circuit court, citing § 27-5-105. The "papers in the case" obviously include the appeal bond. Because the filing of the appeal bond in the city court is a precondition for circuit-court jurisdiction (Tubwell), the circuit court cannot exercise jurisdiction unless the bond is transmitted along with the rest of the record. The AG cites § 16-15-719 by analogy ("An appeal bond returned with other papers to the circuit court [from a general sessions court] is a conclusive presumption that an appeal was taken").

Bottom line: the municipal court clerk's transmittal duty includes the appeal bond.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2015. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: How much is the appeal bond?
A: $250 for civil municipal-court appeals under § 16-18-307. The bond is for the appellant's appearance and faithful prosecution of the appeal.

Q: Can the appellant pay this directly to the circuit court?
A: Under this opinion's reading of Tubwell and Whitley, no. The bond is filed in the court from which appeal is taken, which is the municipal court. The municipal court clerk then forwards the bond with the rest of the record.

Q: What if the municipal court clerk forgets to send the bond?
A: The circuit court arguably cannot exercise jurisdiction until the bond is in its file (Tubwell, 413 S.W.3d at 79, 80). The circuit court might direct the municipal court to transmit the missing papers, but the better practice is for the municipal court clerk to send the bond along with the original record.

Q: What if the appellant files a pauper's oath?
A: A pauper's oath replaces the bond requirement (this is implicit in § 27-5-103's general appellate framework, which Tubwell applies to city-court appeals). The same transmittal logic applies: the oath was filed in the municipal court and would travel with the record.

Q: Does this apply to criminal cases out of municipal court?
A: Section 16-18-307 sits in the chapter on municipal courts exercising concurrent general-sessions jurisdiction under § 16-18-302(a). Criminal appeal mechanics in city courts can differ depending on the offense. The opinion's analysis is grounded in the civil-appeal posture posed by the question.

Background and statutory framework

Tennessee's municipal courts have historically had a tangled relationship to general sessions courts, with the legislature using both general law (the Municipal Court Reform Act of 2004) and private acts to define each court's scope. The Municipal Court Reform Act provides for appeal from a municipal court to circuit court under § 16-18-307 when the city court is acting pursuant to § 16-18-302(a) (concurrent jurisdiction with general sessions on specified matters).

The procedural mechanics of those appeals borrow heavily from the general-sessions appeals framework at §§ 27-5-101 to -108. Tubwell and Whitley confirm that borrowing as a matter of state appellate practice. The AG opinion essentially extends the well-settled general-sessions transmittal rule to municipal-court appeals.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-15-719 (general sessions appeal bond returned with papers)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-18-302(a) (municipal-court concurrent jurisdiction)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-18-307 (municipal-court appeal to circuit court; $250 bond)
• Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 27-5-101 to -108 (general sessions appeal framework)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 27-5-105 (record transmission duty)

Cases:

• Tubwell v. City of Memphis, 413 S.W.3d 77 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2013) (Tennessee Court of Appeals; city-court appeals follow general-sessions procedure)
• City of Red Boiling Springs v. Whitley, 777 S.W.2d 706 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1989) (Tennessee Court of Appeals; bond requirement is jurisdictional)

Subject

Opinion No. 15-07, Municipal-court clerk's obligation to transmit appeal bond to the circuit-court clerk, January 27, 2015

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2015/op15-07.pdf

Original opinion text

STATE OF TENNESSEE
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
January 27, 2015
Opinion No. 15-07
Municipal-court clerk's obligation to transmit appeal bond to the circuit-court clerk

QUESTION

When an appeal from a judgment of a municipal court is taken to circuit court, is the clerk of the municipal court obligated to transmit the required appeal bond to the clerk of the circuit court along with the rest of the record?

OPINION

The municipal court clerk must transmit the appeal bond that is required under Tenn. Code Ann. 16-18-307 along with the rest of the record to the circuit-court clerk.

ANALYSIS

By its plain terms, Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-18-307 provides that a litigant who is not satisfied with a judgment of a municipal court may pursue an appeal in the circuit court and that an appeal bond in the amount of $250 bond must be filed within ten days after the entry of the judgment. Tennessee Code Annotated § 16-18-307 states:

Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any person dissatisfied with the judgment of a municipal court, in any cases heard or determined by the court acting pursuant to § 16-18-302(a), may, within ten (10) days thereafter, Sundays exclusive, appeal to the circuit court of the county, upon giving bond in the amount of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) for the person's appearance and the faithful prosecution of the appeal.

Tennessee Code Annotated § 16-18-307 does not specify where the bond should be filed or what is to happen with that bond after filing. But Tenn. Code Ann. § 27-5-101 to -108, which governs the procedure for appealing from general sessions court to circuit court, provides the necessary guidance, since "[a]ppeals from city court are governed by the same procedure applicable to appeals from general sessions court to circuit court." Tubwell v. City of Memphis, 413 S.W.3d 77, 79 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2013) (citing City of Red Boiling Springs v. Whitley, 777 S.W.2d 706, 707 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1989)).

In construing Tenn. Code Ann. § 27-5-101 et seq., the Court of Appeals has held that "[t]he required bond or pauper's oath is to be filed in the court from which an appeal is taken to the circuit court, i.e., here, the city court." Tubwell, 413 S.W.3d at 79. "Once a proper bond or pauper's oath has been filed . . . , it is then the duty of the city court to forward the papers to the clerk of the circuit court." Id. (citing Tenn. Code Ann. § 27-5-105); see Whitley, 777 S.W.2d at 707.

The "papers in the case" would obviously include the appeal bond. Indeed, because filing the appeal bond in the city court is a necessary precondition for the circuit court to gain jurisdiction, Tubwell, 413 S.W.3d at 79, 80, the circuit court would not be able to exercise its jurisdiction unless the appeal bond is transmitted. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-15-719 ("An appeal bond returned with other papers to the circuit court [from a general sessions court] is a conclusive presumption that an appeal was taken.").

Based on the principles set forth in Tubwell and Whitley, when appeal is taken from a municipal-court judgment, the municipal-court clerk must transmit the bond that is required under Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-18-307 to the circuit-court clerk along with the rest of the papers in the case.

HERBERT H. SLATERY III
Attorney General and Reporter

ANDRÉE SOPHIA BLUMSTEIN
Solicitor General

MICHAEL A. MEYER
Deputy Attorney General

Requested by:
Honorable Roy B. Morgan, Jr.
Circuit Judge
515 S. Liberty Street
Jackson, Tennessee 38301