Police

Case Preparation Division

(615) 862-7658

Officer Gilder teaching a case law class at the Training Academy
Officer Gilder teaching a case law class at the Training Academy
  1. Areas of Responsibility:
    1. Case Preparation:
      The Division receives requests for indictment from the Office of the District Attorney General, then determines the appropriate investigating officer/detective, interviews him/her, and compiles a complete case file from which the District Attorney General's Office prepares indictments. The case summary pages prepared by the Division often are read directly into the official court record as the agreed-upon statement of facts.
    2. Liaison to the Office of the District Attorney General:
      Issues relating to investigative duties, investigative and prosecutorial sufficiency, requests for direct presentments, and any other inter-agency issues are handled by the Division.
    3. Prosecution Advice:
      The Division provides legal counseling to all levels of the Department on issues relating to the prosecution of criminal cases. This counseling ranges from quick statutory issues to complex legal research products.

      Please Note:
      The Case Preparation Division cannot and will not provide prosecution advice or any other type of legal advice to anyone but members of the Department.

      Additionally, the Division assists with higher-complexity search warrant drafting, assists with revision of MPD forms/orders, prepares Miranda Rights cards, maintains four pdweb-based search warrant templates, and maintains the MPD Law Library.
    4. Teaching:
      The Division provides all the legal instruction for the Department. It does so via the following methods:
      1. Recruit Training: approximately 130 hours per Session
      2. In-Service Training: 3-hour update (29 dates) for all sworn personnel
      3. Other Training:
        1. Property Guards/Court Officers/NFD/MNGH: 4-hour (5 dates)
        2. BOLO Class: 2-hour (2 dates)
        3. New Investigator Course: 4-hour course
        4. Advanced Search-and-Seizure: 8-hour course
        5. Roll Call Training: as requested by component commanders
      4. PDWeb "Case Prep" Bulletin Board: Post information as needed on new laws or other legal issues

        Officer Gilder responds to an officer's question
        Officer Gilder responds to an officer's question
  2. Personnel
    1. Off. Don Barnes
      Assigned to Case Prep as one of the sworn personnel, Officer Barnes is responsible for several different tasks. These include in-service training at the MNPD Training Academy, case review, and oversight of cases prepared by officers for the DA’s office. Officer Barnes holds a BS from Murray State University and is a first year law student at the Nashville School of Law.
    2. Off. Chris Gilder
      Assigned to Case Prep as one of the sworn personnel, Off. Gilder is responsible for several different tasks. These include recruit and in-service training in law courses at the MNPD Training Academy, case review and oversight of cases prepared by officers for the DA's office, legal advice and guidance for MNPD personnel in criminal matters, assistance with policy development, and participation in the department's "department advocate" program concerning disciplinary matters. Officer Gilder holds a BA from the University of Georgia and is a final-year law student at the Nashville School of Law.
    3. Police Case Coordinators:
      • Ella Chambers
      • Kim Burnett
      • Ruby Bynum
      • Sarah Garrison
      • Julie Hoffman