TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on May 13, 2024

Davidson County General Sessions Judge Jim Todd details the challenges of the current bail system and offers ideas for reform in a recent interview with the Nashville Banner. Among the issues, he cites lack of access to criminal records outside of the county and inadequate supervision and enforcement of bond conditions. To improve the system, Todd — who has worked as both a prosecutor and defense attorney — is working on an agreement with the county sheriff to check criminal histories in the National Crime Information Center database. He and other judges also plan to ask the local government to fund new positions to handle that task. Additionally, Todd argues argues that Metro should adopt a bond supervision system similar to the federal courts. He and Criminal Court Judge Cynthia Chappell are working on a pilot program along those lines to increase supervision of those released on bail.