Jason Ray v. Madison County, Tennessee

Syllabus

We accepted certification of questions of law from the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, which require us to determine: (1) whether, for split confinement sentences, Tennessee law authorizes a sentencing court to fix a percentage of the sentence that a defendant must serve in actual confinement before becoming eligible to participate in a work program in the local jail or workhouse and (2) whether Tennessee law imposes a duty on a sheriff to challenge an inmate's improper or potentially improper sentence. We conclude (1) that for split confinement sentences Tennessee trial judges are authorized to fix a percentage the defendant must serve in actual confinement before becoming eligible to earn work credits and (2) that sheriffs in Tennessee have no duty to challenge an inmate's sentence as improper or potentially improper.