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General Sessions: Trial Court
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Lacy Garrison
Updated: Feb 21, 2014, 1:29 AM
Published: Feb 21, 2014, 1:30 AM

A 27-person docket was heard Tuesday afternoon by Judge Bill Locke in General Sessions Trial Court. Included in the afternoon session:
• Sonny Simmons was ordered to serve 30 days of an 11-month, 29-day sentence, pay $366 and attend the batterer intervention program for domestic assault.
• Joshua Cagle was handed an 11-29 probationary sentence and must pay $250 plus costs for simple possession of marijuana.
• Teresea Lewis was bound to the grand jury on the charge of initiating the process to manufacture meth.
• Oscar Ortiz Miller was bound to the grand jury on charges of theft and aggravated burglary.
• Iris Quinn was bound to the grand jury on the charge of possession of drugs.
• Lara Stevens was bound to the grand jury on the charge of domestic assault.
• Sherry Rankhorn was instructed to serve 48 hours, pay $1,000 plus costs and perform 24 hours public service work for possession of drugs.
• Angela Scott was bound to the grand jury on charges of leaving the scene of an accident, grand theft and driving on a revoked license. She must serve 30 days and have her probation extended by a year for violation of probation.
• Ciara Scott was bound to the grand jury on charges of possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia.
• Shanna Bogle was bound to the grand jury on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia.
• Amanda Cox Dunn must serve 60 days and have her probation extended by a year for violation of probation.
• Billy Johnson must serve 60 days and have his probation extended by one year for violation of probation.
Local law enforcement on the lookout for distracted driving
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Nikki Childers
Published: Apr 9, 2025, 2:43 AM

April is National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Distracted Driving Awareness Month and McMinnville Police Department (MPD) is on the roads to educate motorists about appropriate hands-free driving.

The amplified focus of cracking down on distracted driving is a nationwide initiative, with many states taking part. MPD Officer Mark Mara indicated the local department is increasing patrols, funded by overtime grants, to enforce and educate about Tennessee’s Hands Free Law.

“We’re trying to get people to change their habits,” Mara said. “There’s a lot of people that are distracted while driving, whether its their cell phones or not. When driving, there are already so many distractions, so having electronics in your hands while you’re driving down the road is dangerous. We need to focus on getting where we need to go and getting there safely.”

According to its records, NHTSA estimates 3,308 lives were lost in crashes involving distracted drivers in 2022 and 8% of all fatal crashes could be attributed to the same. To illustrate the point on a larger scale, it approximates over 32,000 people have died and nearly 290,000 were left injured from crashes attributed to distracted motorists between 2013 and 2022.

Violation of the Tennessee Hands Free Law is a Class C misdemeanor and traffic citations based on the violation are considered moving traffic violations. A first-time offense is typically $50 with third-time offenses and violations resulting in a crash rising to $100; citations received in a work zone while workers or present or in a marked school zone while flashes are in operation carry a penalty of $200. Three points are also added to a motorist’s driving record for each violation with 12 points leading to license suspension.

While the law specifically mentions hands in its name, it is similarly illegal to prop the phone up with any other part of their body.

“We’re going to be stopping vehicles whose operators are distracted by using their cell phones or other electronic devices,” Mara said. “It is against the law for a motorist to be holding their electronic device or having it on their body, so if you’re holding it to your ear or with your shoulder, it’s against the law all the same.”

When using GPS technology, Mara recommends investing in windshield-, vent- or dash-mounted mobile device holder to support the phone while using it for those purposes so your hands can remain on the wheel without compromising your ability to navigate to a destination.

“I understand that your cell phones are a lifeline and we get that — we use them ourselves for GPS. If you have an important phone call that’s coming in and you really need to focus on talking to that person, just pull over to the side of the road and turn on your emergency lights,” Mara said. “When you’re on a phone call, you’re not paying attention to all of the things you need to. You’re going to be concentrating on that conversation and you’re going to find yourself drifting in your lane, going through a stop sign or not stopping properly before a red light.”

Mara additionally recommended drivers sync their phones to their vehicles in models with Bluetooth capabilities and to use phone mounts that do not obstruct vision of the roadways through the windshield.

“The greatest danger of distracted driving is ending up in a crash that was absolutely avoidable, which might hurt yourself or someone else,” Mara said. “You’ve got a lot in front of you when you’re driving and a vehicle is a piece of machinery. We want all motorists to be driving safely on the roads and getting to their destinations without misadventure.”

Warnings and citations will be rendered at officers’ discretion during the increased patrols.