Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-2-111 (2026)
Sentence to hard labor - Good time credit - Disciplinary review board
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) In all cases where a person is by law liable to be imprisoned in the county jail for punishment or for failure to pay a fine, that person shall be sentenced to be confined, and shall be confined, at hard labor in the county workhouse until the expiration of the sentence of imprisonment or, subject to the limitations imposed by § 40-24-104, until the fine has been worked out, paid or secured to be paid.
- (b) Each such prisoner who has been sentenced to the county jail or workhouse for any period of time less than one (1) year on either a misdemeanor or a felony, and who behaves uprightly, shall have deducted from the sentence imposed by the court time equal to one quarter (1/4) of the sentence. In calculating the amount of good time credit earned, the one-quarter reduction shall apply to the entire sentence, including pretrial and post-trial confinement. Fractions of a day's credit for good time of one half (1/2) or more shall be considered a full day's credit. If any prisoner violates the rules and regulations of the jail or workhouse, or otherwise behaves improperly, the sheriff or superintendent of the institution may revoke all or any portion of the prisoner's good time credit; provided, that the prisoner is given a hearing in accordance with due process before a disciplinary review board and is found to have violated the rules and regulations of the institution.
- (c)
- (1) The disciplinary review board for each institution shall be composed of six (6) impartial members, one (1) or more of whom may be members of the jail or workhouse staff.
- (2) The members of the disciplinary review board, which is created by this section, shall be appointed by the sheriff or superintendent of the jail or workhouse where the institution is located, subject to approval by the county legislative body.
- (3) Members shall serve for a period of two (2) years, except that appointments made to fill unexpired terms shall be for the period of the unexpired terms.
- (4) No less than one (1) and no more than three (3) of the members of the disciplinary review board are required to transact the business authorized by this section.
- (5) The county legislative body is authorized to establish the rate of compensation for such board members. In any county having a population of more than seven hundred thousand (700,000) according to the 1980 federal census or any subsequent federal census, this subsection (c) shall not apply.
- (6) Members of the board, while acting in good faith, shall not be subject to civil liability relative to the performance of duties delegated to the board by this section.
- (d) The prisoner shall be given notice of the disciplinary hearing and shall have the right to call witnesses in the prisoner's behalf. The decisions of the disciplinary review board for workhouse inmates may be appealed to the sheriff or workhouse superintendent.
Acts 1891, ch. 123, § 12; Shan., § 7417; Code 1932, § 12026; Acts 1967, ch. 103, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1978, ch. 934, §§ 16, 36; 1982, ch. 940, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 41-1219; Acts 1986, ch. 744, §§ 4-9; 1995, ch. 315, § 1; 2005, ch. 307, § 1.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 33
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2001–2021 · leading case: Hayward v. Marshall, 603 F.3d 546 (9th Cir. 2010).
Hayward v. Marshall, 603 F.3d 546 (9th Cir. 2010). “§§ 209.433, .447; N.H.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 651-A:22; N.”
State v. Clark, 67 S.W.3d 73 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2001). “” He contends that the sentence is impermissible because he is entitled to earn good conduct credits pursuant to TennCode Ann. § 41-2-111. He relies upon an attorney general opinion that concludes that good conduct credits may be earned on DUI sentences of less than a year as…”
Jason Ray v. Madison Cnty., Tennessee (Tenn. 2017). “(c) Any prisoner receiving sentence credits under this section shall not be eligible for the sentence reduction authorized by § 41-2-111 [good time credit]. 9 Section 41-2-150 provides in relevant part: (a) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, except as provided in…”
State of Tennessee v. Sommer Leininger (Tenn. Crim. App. 2019). “Good Behavior Credits The Defendant also argues that she is entitled to good time credits under Tennessee Code Annotated section 41-2-111(b). The State agrees that the trial court improperly restricted the Defendant’s ability to accumulate good behavior credits by ordering the…”
Charles Montague v. State of Tennessee (Tenn. Crim. App. 2019). “Work and Good Behavior Credits The petitioner claims entitlement to work and good behavior credits pursuant to Code section 41-2-111 and 41-4-121. By its terms, Code section 41-2-111 applies to prisoners who have “been sentenced to the county jail or workhouse for any -5- period…”
State of Tennessee v. Timothy James Coley (Tenn. Crim. App. 2013). “-2- (c) Any prisoner receiving sentence credits under this section shall not be eligible for the sentence reduction authorized by § 41-2-111. [Acts 1984, ch. 841, § 1.] Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-302 provides in pertinent part as follows: 40-35-302.”
Charles Edward Meriweather v. State of Tennessee (Tenn. Crim. App. 2010). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-2-111 (b) (2006); see also State v.”
State v. Stephen Bart Wood (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001). “§ 40-35-302 (d) requires the court to set a percentage of the misdemeanor sentence (not to exceed seventy-five percent) which the defendant shall serve, and Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-2-111 (b) allows a misdemeanant serving less than one year in a local jail to earn good conduct…”
State of Tennessee v. Jeannie Hudson (Tenn. Crim. App. 2002). “Tennessee Code Annotated section 41-2-111 states the following: -4- (a) In all cases where a person is by law liable to be imprisoned in the county jail for punishment, or for failure to pay a fine, such person shall be sentenced to be confined, and shall be confined, at hard…”
State of Tennessee v. Jackie Phillip Lester-Dissenting (Tenn. Crim. App. 2017). “In this case, only the local jailer had the authority to revoke the Defendant’s credits, see Tennessee Code Annotated section 41-2-111, not the TDOC. In State v.”
State of Tennessee v. Aspyn Riner (Tenn. Crim. App. 2018). “Under Tennessee Code Annotated section 41-2-111(b), a trial court cannot preclude a defendant from earning good time credits.”
State of Tennessee v. Kenneth Guthrie (Tenn. Crim. App. 2019). “2017), the supreme court determined that under Tennessee Code Annotated section 41-2-111(b), trial courts can fix a percentage that defendants must serve in actual confinement before becoming eligible to participate in a work program and earn work credits but cannot preclude…”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-2-111(b) — 14 cases
Jason Ray v. Madison Cnty., Tennessee (Tenn. 2017). “(c) Any prisoner receiving sentence credits under this section shall not be eligible for the sentence reduction authorized by § 41-2-111 [good time credit]. 9 Section 41-2-150 provides in relevant part: (a) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, except as provided in…”
State of Tennessee v. Sommer Leininger (Tenn. Crim. App. 2019). “Good Behavior Credits The Defendant also argues that she is entitled to good time credits under Tennessee Code Annotated section 41-2-111(b). The State agrees that the trial court improperly restricted the Defendant’s ability to accumulate good behavior credits by ordering the…”
State of Tennessee v. Aspyn Riner (Tenn. Crim. App. 2018). “Under Tennessee Code Annotated section 41-2-111(b), a trial court cannot preclude a defendant from earning good time credits.”
State of Tennessee v. Kenneth Guthrie (Tenn. Crim. App. 2019). “2017), the supreme court determined that under Tennessee Code Annotated section 41-2-111(b), trial courts can fix a percentage that defendants must serve in actual confinement before becoming eligible to participate in a work program and earn work credits but cannot preclude…”
State of Tennessee v. Marvin Magay James Green - concurring opinion (Tenn. Crim. App. 2021).
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