Nashville Criminal Defense Lawyer | Booking, Bond and Release
Nashville Criminal Defense Lawyer & Former Prosecutor Kevin Kennedy. 615-205-7311. Call or text for a free consultation.
What Is the Downtown Detention Center?
The Downtown Detention Center, commonly called the DDC, is a Davidson County Sheriff's Office facility at 200 James Robertson Parkway in Nashville. The Sheriff's Office describes the DDC as the first stop for every arrestee in Davidson County.
For someone arrested on Broadway, elsewhere downtown, or anywhere else in Davidson County, the DDC can become the center of the immediate questions: Where is the person? Has bond been set? When can the person be released? What conditions will apply? What happens next in court?
What Happens During Booking?
Booking creates the jail record associated with the arrest. The process can include identity verification, fingerprints, a photograph, property processing, medical screening, classification, and entry of charge and custody information.
The amount of time involved varies. The existence of a bond amount does not necessarily mean release will be immediate. Processing, bond arrangements, holds, release conditions, pretrial screening, and other case-specific issues can affect timing.
How Is Bond Addressed?
After an arrest, a judicial officer may address release and bond. Depending on the case, a person may be released on a financial bond, through an eligible non-financial release program, or subject to conditions while the criminal case is pending.
Davidson County Pretrial Services operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Its screening office is located in the booking room of the DDC. Pretrial Services identifies qualified defendants for potential release on non-financial conditions and provides information used in bond decisions.
Bond conditions can be as important as the bond amount. Conditions may involve contact with an alleged victim, weapons, alcohol or drug use, GPS monitoring, travel, or other restrictions. A defendant should understand those conditions before leaving custody.
How Can I Find Out If Someone Is at the DDC?
The Davidson County Sheriff's Office maintains an offender information center for current and released offenders. The Sheriff's Office states that the center is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 615-862-8123.
The Sheriff's Office also provides an Active Inmate Search through its offender-information services. If you cannot find someone immediately after an arrest, the booking process may still be underway, so the public record may not appear instantly.
How Long Does Release Take?
There is no single release time that applies to every Nashville arrest. Release can depend on when booking is completed, whether bond has been set, whether a bondsman or other payment is involved, whether the person qualifies for pretrial release, whether there are holds or warrants, and whether special release conditions must be processed.
Domestic-violence cases can involve additional statutory and bond-condition issues. Other cases may involve probation violations, out-of-county holds, immigration issues, or multiple warrants. Those circumstances can change the release process substantially.
Can Family Visit or Contact Someone at the DDC?
The Sheriff's Office publishes current visitation, phone, video-visitation, and commissary information for the DDC. Its current DDC page states that lobby family visitation is not presently available, while remote video visitation is offered on published schedules for eligible housing units.
Because jail policies and schedules can change, families should use the Sheriff's Office's current DDC information rather than relying on an old third-party page.
What Happens After Release?
Release from jail is not the end of the criminal case. The defendant may have a Davidson County General Sessions court date, bond conditions, pretrial reporting requirements, a no-contact condition, GPS monitoring, or other obligations.
A person who lives outside Tennessee should also determine whether a personal court appearance will be required before simply returning home and assuming the case can be handled later. Missing a required appearance can create a warrant and additional problems.
What Evidence Should Be Preserved?
The hours immediately after an arrest can matter. Depending on the allegation, a defense lawyer may want to identify and preserve body-camera footage, surveillance video, witness information, photographs, rideshare records, receipts, phone data, medical records, or other evidence.
Downtown cases can generate video from bars, hotels, parking garages, businesses, and bystanders. Waiting too long can make private surveillance evidence harder to obtain.
Talk With a Nashville Criminal Defense Lawyer
Kevin Kennedy is a former Davidson County prosecutor who now represents people charged with crimes in Nashville and throughout Middle Tennessee. If you or a family member has been booked into the Downtown Detention Center, Kevin Kennedy Law Firm can evaluate the charge, bond situation, release conditions, and upcoming court process.
Call Kevin Kennedy Law Firm at (615) 205-7311 to discuss the case.