Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Madison County, Tennessee, has about 100,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Its court cases are filed in the Madison County Circuit and Chancery Courts and the General Sessions Court, and the file of each case, kept by the Circuit Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master, is the public record of it. This guide says which court hears what, where to look a case up and who keeps the files.
This guide covers the courts, the records page, criminal cases, kinds of files, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Madison County public records, Madison County arrest records, Madison County warrants, Madison County inmate search, Madison County criminal records, Tennessee arrest records and Tennessee inmate search.
The Courts That Hear Cases from Madison County
Court cases from Madison County are filed in the Madison County Circuit and Chancery Courts, which hear felonies in the Circuit or Criminal Court, civil cases in either court, and divorces in either.
The General Sessions Court takes misdemeanors, traffic cases, small claims and preliminary hearings.
A city with a municipal court of its own tries the tickets written under its ordinances.
Divorces go to the Circuit Court or the Chancery Court, and the file stays with the Circuit Court Clerk or the Clerk and Master.
The Circuit Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master keep the files, and a copy of anything in a file comes from that office, under the court's own rules rather than the Tennessee Public Records Act.
Looking Up a Case from Madison County
For Madison County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at madisoncountytn.gov/151/General-Sessions-Court (page title: General Sessions Court | Madison County, TN), phone (731)423-6128, 515 South Liberty St Suite 300 Jackson, TN 38301, Monday-Friday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026. That page belongs to a lower court, the General Sessions Court, not to the Madison County Circuit and Chancery Courts.
Tennessee has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
The appellate courts' case search is at tncourts.gov/courts/supreme-court/public-case-history.
What Reaches the Court from Madison County
Together, the two agencies in Madison County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,106 arrests to the FBI that year; the District Attorney General decides which of those arrests become cases in the Madison County Circuit and Chancery Courts or the General Sessions Court.
The District Attorney General's page SearchSystems verified is at madisoncountytn.gov/79/District-Attorney-General (page title: District Attorney General | Madison County, TN), phone (731) 423-5800, 514 S. Broad Street Suite B Lexington, TN 38351, Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
The Kinds of Court Files
The court file is one record with several readers: a criminal case from the arrest to the sentence, a divorce from the petition to the judgment, a traffic ticket from the citation to the conviction the court reports to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, and an eviction or a lien on land.
The other Madison County guides take the kinds of file one at a time: Madison County criminal records, Madison County traffic tickets, Madison County DUI and Madison County property records.
Cities in Madison County
Wherever in the county a case arises, it is filed in the Madison County Circuit and Chancery Courts or the General Sessions Court; tickets under a city's own ordinances go to its municipal court where it has one.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Madison County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own court records guide opens there:
- Jackson (69,303)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I look up a court case in Madison County?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at madisoncountytn.gov, phone (731)423-6128; it belongs to a lower court, the General Sessions Court, not to the Madison County Circuit and Chancery Courts.
Which court hears felonies in Madison County?
The Madison County Circuit and Chancery Courts, which hear felonies in the Circuit or Criminal Court, civil cases in either court, and divorces in either. The General Sessions Court takes misdemeanors, traffic cases, small claims and preliminary hearings.
Who keeps the court records in Madison County?
The Circuit Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master. Copies come from that office under the court's own rules.
Is there a statewide court case search in Tennessee?
No. Each court's records are looked up through that court.
Is this the official Madison County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.