A few folks who live in Rutherford or surrounding counties may find themselves on the wrong side of the law if they failed to appear in court or failed to pay a citation. According to Metro authorities, the citation some citizens may have received could have been from a Nashville Police officer, a State Trooper or even a TWRA officer while boating on Percy Priest Lake.

In an effort to clear a backlog of 357 arrest warrants issued for persons who failed to appear in court on state law violation citations, the Metro Nashville Police Department’s Warrants Division is sending letters to defendants asking that they surrender themselves.

The 357 warrants, issued between August 1, 2023 and January 1, 2024, have $0 Release on Recognizance bonds, meaning that after persons are booked on the failure to appear charge, they will be given a new court date and released.

Police warn, “Continuing to ignore these warrants could result in defendants being physically arrested if they are stopped for an unrelated traffic infraction and an officer, during a routine computer check, sees the existence of an outstanding failure to appear warrant.”

The letters being sent clearly inform defendants that the Metro’s Criminal Warrants Division, located at 440 3rd Avenue North, is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week, that they must appear in-person, and that it is in their best interest to resolve the outstanding warrants promptly.

Metro warns that the letters are on official Metro Nashville Police Department letterhead. They do not request money. In fact, no one from the police department will ever ask for payment from a defendant. Letters purporting to be from law enforcement that do ask for money are connected to scams.