STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CLAYTON NELVIS - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CLAYTON NELVIS

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jun 9, 2025

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Joel H. Moseley, Jr., Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the appellant, 1st Out Bonding Company.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Ronald L. Coleman, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Jody S. Pickens, District Attorney General; and Joshua Dougan, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): GREENHOLTZ

The Defendant, Clayton Nelvis, was arrested in January 2023, and 1st Out Bonding Company secured his release by executing a bail bond as surety. After the Defendant failed to appear for his initial arraignment, the trial court issued a conditional judgment forfeiting the bail bond. After 180 days, the trial court entered a final judgment of forfeiture when the surety failed to appear for the scheduled hearing. Two weeks later, the surety moved to set aside the final judgment, asserting that it was not liable under Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-11-139(d), which relieves a surety of liability where the defendant is not timely entered into a state or federal fugitive database following a failure to appear. The trial court denied the motion, concluding that the request for relief was untimely. On appeal, the surety contends that the statute extinguished its liability and that the trial court had no authority to enter a final forfeiture. Upon our review, we respectfully disagree and affirm the trial court’s judgment.

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