Smith County, TN Courts and Public Records

Tennessee's trial courts include Chancery, Probate, Circuit, and Criminal courts, organized by judicial district. Smith County court records are kept by the county court clerk. Court names, judges, and addresses for Smith County are not listed on this page, so confirm them through TennesseeCourts.org.

Have the person's full name, the case number if you know it, and approximate dates ready before you search. Smith County court records are kept by the county court clerk.

Trial courts in Smith County (Chancery, Circuit, Criminal and Probate where established) recorded 671 new filings in fiscal year 2024-25 and 629 dispositions, according to the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts.

The largest driver of the change was criminal filings (+27 filings), followed by probate and estates (+9). Judge counts are not published by county in this report, so no per-judge figures are shown.

This table shows new filings and dispositions in the Chancery, Circuit, Criminal and Probate courts of Smith County for the last five fiscal years, from the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts annual statistical reports.

Total filings changed -20.8% between FY 2020-21 and FY 2024-25, from 847 to 671. The largest annual change was -16.8% in FY 2022-23. The latest change, FY 2024-25, was +5.8%, led by criminal filings (+27).

Criminal cases make up the largest share of Smith County filings at 59.3% of the 671 filed in FY 2024-25.

Probate and estates cases were the fastest-growing category at +12.0%, while civil and other cases fell fastest at -5.7%. Case types are grouped from the report as: criminal (Criminal Court), family law (divorce, parenting, paternity and related), probate and estates, and other civil.

Smith County accounted for 0.26% of the 258,104 trial court cases filed statewide in Tennessee in FY 2024-25, and its filings grew 5.8% while statewide filings grew 1.3%.

Smith County's criminal share is higher than the statewide share and its family law share is higher.

These figures are Tennessee statewide totals as reported to the FBI, not counts for Smith County. Agency reporting may be incomplete, and county crime counts are not available here. Statewide violent and property crimes combined fell 18.1% from 2024 to 2025. In 2025, reporting agencies covered about 99.6% of Tennessee's population, so year-over-year changes can partly reflect which agencies reported.

Rates use the Tennessee 2025 population of 7,315,076. County-level rates are not published, so this section does not compare Smith County with the state. The property crimes total includes arson, so it is larger than the sum of the property offenses listed above.

Smith County court proceedings are held at the Smith County Courthouse. Check your notice or case paperwork to confirm the courthouse assigned to your case before you go.

Addresses and phone numbers come from public directory listings and may change, so confirm them with the clerk before you visit.

Cases in Smith County, Tennessee are heard by General Sessions, Circuit, Criminal, Chancery, Juvenile, and Probate courts, depending on the matter and county.

Whether a Smith County court record is public depends on the record type and any Tennessee law or court order that restricts it. Confirm access for a specific case with the county court clerk, and do not assume every record is available online.

Case information for Smith County courts is mostly kept by local clerks, so check the clerk portal for the court that hears your case.

1. Identify your case type (criminal, traffic, civil, family, probate, or juvenile).
2. Pick the official portal that covers that court and county.
3. Search by party name or case number.
4. Review the case details, parties, and scheduled hearings.
5. Contact the clerk to request documents that are not available online.

Ask the Smith County court clerk which payment methods the court accepts for traffic citations and criminal fines, and confirm the amount owed before you pay.