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Rule 18 – Venue

May 14, 2021 | Criminal Procedure, Tennessee

(a) County of Offense. Except as otherwise provided by statute or by these rules, offenses shall be prosecuted in the county where the offense was committed.
(b) Multiple Counties. If one or more elements of an offense are committed in one county and one or more elements in another, the offense may be prosecuted in either county.
(c) Boundary. Offenses committed on the boundary of two (2) or more counties may be prosecuted in either county.
(d) All or Partly Outside State. In circumstances that give Tennessee jurisdiction to prosecute the offender, the following rules apply:

(1) An offense committed in part outside Tennessee may be prosecuted in any county in which an element of the offense occurs.
(2) An offense committed wholly outside Tennessee may be prosecuted in any Tennessee county in which the offender is found.

Tenn. R. Crim. P. 18

Advisory Commission Comment.

Subdivision (a) is derived from Art. 1, § 9, Constitution of Tennessee; T.C.A. § 40-104 [now repealed]; and § 40-3-101 of the Law Revision Commission’s proposed code.