Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-2-129 (2026)
Wages or salary of employed prisoners - Liability of prisoner for prisoner's board in the workhouse - Work release
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) When a prisoner is employed for wages or salary, the warden, superintendent or other person in charge of the workhouse shall collect the wages or salary or require the prisoner to turn over the prisoner's wages or salary when received; and the warden, superintendent or other person in charge of the workhouse shall deposit the wages or salary in a trust checking account and shall keep a ledger showing the status of the account of each prisoner. In the case of a jail prisoner, the sheriff shall collect the wages or salary of the prisoner or require the prisoner to turn over the wages or salary when received and shall perform the duties prescribed in this subsection (a) for the warden, superintendent or other person in the case of workhouse prisoners.
- (b)
- (1) Every prisoner gainfully employed shall be liable for the cost of that prisoner's board in the workhouse, as fixed by the county commissioners.
- (2) If necessarily absent from the workhouse at a meal time, a prisoner shall, at the prisoner's request, be furnished with an adequate nourishing lunch to carry to work.
- (3) The warden, superintendent or other person in charge of the workhouse shall charge the prisoner's account if the prisoner has one for such board.
- (4) If the prisoner is gainfully self-employed, the prisoner shall pay for such board, in default of which the prisoner's privilege under §§ 41-2-127 - 41-2-132 shall be automatically forfeited.
- (5) If the workhouse food is furnished directly by the county, the warden, superintendent or other person in charge of the workhouse shall account for and pay over such board payments to the county.
- (6) The same provisions shall apply in the case of jail prisoners, except that the county legislative body shall have and exercise the duties and authority prescribed for the county board of commissioners in the case of workhouse prisoners and the sheriff shall have and exercise the duties and authority prescribed for the warden, superintendent or other person in the case of workhouse prisoners.
- (c) By order of the county board of commissioners, or county legislative body if there is no county board of commissioners, or in the case of jail prisoners, the wages or salaries of employed prisoners shall be disbursed for the following purposes in the order stated:
- (1) The board of the prisoner;
- (2) Necessary travel expenses to and from work and other incidental expenses of the prisoner;
- (3) Support of the prisoner's dependents, if any, the amount to be determined by the local governing body of the county workhouse or by the county legislative body in the case of jail prisoners;
- (4) Payment of docket costs connected with the commitment of the person;
- (5) Payment, either in full or ratably, of the prisoner's obligations acknowledged by the prisoner in writing or that have been reduced to judgment;
- (6) After deductions are made in accordance with subdivisions (c)(1)-(5), two dollars ($2.00), if there is at least a balance of two dollars ($2.00) in the account, shall be deducted each month from a prisoner's trust account for any month the prisoner is gainfully employed, to be applied to the county-operated victim's assistance program, if such a program exists in the county; and
- (7) After deductions are made in accordance with subdivisions (c)(1)-(6), four dollars ($4.00), if there is at least a balance of four dollars ($4.00) in the account, shall be deducted each month from a prisoner's trust account for any month the prisoner is gainfully employed, to be directly applied to satisfy any judgments, against the prisoner, for restitution in favor of the victim.
- (d) As an alternative to the procedures described in subsections (a), (b) and (c), the sentencing court may place a prisoner on work release subject to the terms and conditions that the sheriff and the sentencing court may agree upon.
Acts 1967, ch. 259, §§ 3, 4; 1972, ch. 626, §§ 3, 4; impl. am. Acts 1978, ch. 934, §§ 7, 36; T.C.A., §§ 41-1239, 41-1240; Acts 1991, ch. 383, § 1; 1998, ch. 746, §1; 2000, ch. 655, §1; 2011 , ch. 261, § 1.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3
cases, 1997–2010 · leading case: State v. David Mitchell (Tenn. Crim. App. 2000).
State v. David Mitchell (Tenn. Crim. App. 2000). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-2-129 (a) (Supp. 2000).”
State v. Kevin DeWayne Steen (Tenn. Crim. App. 2010). “97-021 (March 5, 1997)(opining that Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-2-128 does not apply to second offense DUI offenders sentenced by the criminal court to the county jail).”
State v. Askew, 968 S.W.2d 899 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1997). “He further argues that Tenn.Code Ann. § 41-2-129 (Supp. 1994) provides that even the warden can deposit a defendant’s funds or a defendant can turn his or her wages over to the warden once they are received.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-2-129(d) — 1 case
State v. David Mitchell (Tenn. Crim. App. 2000). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 41-2-129 (a) (Supp. 2000).”
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