Coffee County
Coffee County is strategically located in the center of Tennessee. It was formed from portions of Bedford, Warren, and Franklin Counties in 1836. As of 2020, over 57,889 people resided in the county. Seven counties border it, and it covers a total landmass of 429 square miles. Its seat is in Manchester.
The judicial system of Coffee County comprises the Circuit Court, Chancery Court, General Sessions Court, and Juvenile Court, all housed in the Justice Center in Manchester. Additionally, there are Municipal Courts located in Manchester and Tullahoma. The Circuit Court hears all criminal and civil cases, including appeals and matters referred from lower courts. The Chancery Court has exclusive jurisdiction over equitable issues such as divorce, adoption, probate, and paternity cases. The General Sessions Court oversees pre-trial felony hearings, misdemeanor trials without juries, municipal ordinance violations, and civil cases exceeding $25,000. Juvenile cases are primarily heard by the Juvenile Court. However, the jurisdiction over these cases is sometimes shared with the Circuit and Chancery Courts. Lastly, the Municipal Courts hear cases related to city ordinance violations and certain traffic offenses.
Public court records consist of various legal documents, including case filings, rulings, orders, dockets, transcripts, and exhibits. These records collectively capture the progression and outcomes of legal proceedings heard in Coffee County. They typically serve as vital resources for legal research, promote public oversight, and ensure transparency within the judicial system, making the legal process open and accessible. Per provisions of the Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA), public court records must be made accessible to every interested member of the public in Coffee County. The Coffee County Clerk of Court is responsible for providing access to these public records, as well as for processing and managing them. The records include:
- Criminal records
- Civil records
- Probate records
- Family records
To obtain these records from the County Clerk, interested individuals may visit the office located at:
300 Hillsboro Boulevard
Manchester, TN 37355
Requesters who live at a far distance may instead contact the Coffee County Clerk's Office by phone at (931) 723-5110, send a mail request, or access the records online via the county-managed records search portal.
Requesters looking to obtain court records in Coffee County typically incur a charge for each page of the desired record. Where the record desired is to be certified, an additional cost applies. Payments can be made in person, and credit card transactions are accepted, although they incur a 3% processing fee.
