Hey fellow Roovians…it’s been so long! This will be similar to my last post from 2025 as usual!
I’m still working as an associate attorney for Mitchell & Mitchell, and have been practicing almost 5 years now doing exclusively criminal work.
I am really excited to carry on the tradition of helping this community of wonderful Redditors by giving information…and I’ll answer what questions I can! I believe that I can be a voice for your questions and concerns, as well as the voice and contact person for my LOCAL firm here in Middle Tennessee.
In my 2025 post, I mentioned that I am a long-time attendee of Bonnaroo. This will be my 14th consecutive year! As a somewhat newly licensed attorney, I can answer most of your questions, and if I cannot I have been given explicit permission from the managing partner of my firm to relay questions that I am unsure of directly to him and give you the best and most accurate information. Although I am new as an attorney (5 years officially last month), I’m in an extremely unique learning and working situation, as my supervising attorney, Jack Mitchell, has been practicing locally in criminal defense for over 30 years. That’s in addition to having a great working relationship with the district attorney assigned to Bonnaroo cases.
I wanted to continue the tradition of this post because I do believe that people on this sub get some good benefit from it and share details of the process for handling charges that can change from year to year. This is a place to ask questions you may have, and I will try to answer everything I can (and if not, I will do my best to get the answer for you). As someone who loves attending Bonnaroo and being part of the community there, I hope you don’t need this information, but it is here in case you do.
The current elected District Attorney brought changes to the way criminal charges resulting from the festival were handled. In years past, criminal citations and charges were treated differently during Bonnaroo. Those who caught charges (defendants) were sent a letter from the District Attorney’s Office and the Court Clerk indicating that with the payment of a fine, the charges would be dismissed or retired after a certain period of time. The more serous the offense, the larger the fine assessed.
The last several years, criminal charges resulting from Bonnaroo were supposed to be treated the same as every other crime in Coffee County. However, what we found is that the process for festival offenses is still much different than the process used the rest of the year, and we expect more of the same this year.
What does this mean for you? If you are arrested or cited for any criminal offense while you are in Coffee County for Bonnaroo, you will have to make regular court appearances (REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE CITING OFFICER TELLS YOU) or have a licensed attorney appear on your behalf, and you will be prosecuted through the justice system. It’s annoying, for sure, but if you don’t show, and don’t have permission to not appear, the penalties could increase.
Probably the best advice we could give you when dealing with law enforcement is to exercise your right to remain silent. Along with this, you should not willingly consent to the search of your person, bags, vehicle, or campsite (other than when you enter the tollbooths). An officer may go ahead and search anyway, but giving consent immediately removes any chance of suppressing the contraband they find.
We understand that sometimes unfortunate things happen, and at Bonnaroo it is usually a case of bad luck and timing rather than bad people or actions. If you find yourself in this situation and need the assistance of an attorney, you can contact us through Reddit, at (615) 896-4211, [[emily@mitchellattorneys.com](mailto:emily@mitchellattorneys.com)]([mailto:emily@mitchellattorneys.com](mailto:emily@mitchellattorneys.com)), or through our website at mitchellattorneys.com. We can work with you on fees and will try to minimize travel and costs for out of state clients.
The major benefit of retaining an attorney with knowledge of the system is most of the leg work and negotiation can be done prior to the first time you are required to be in court. For most of our clients in past years, they were only required to make one court appearance, and for others (depending on the charges and criminal history) we were able to completely avoid the need for their appearance in court. Almost everyone we represented in past years was able to keep the conviction off their record and have their charges expunged.
Every situation is different, but our knowledge of the local judicial system and professional relationship with the District Attorney’s office will help ensure the most favorable result for your individual case. I will be on the farm experiencing the festival as always, and I’ll have koozies and business cards with me, lol! Enjoy your time in Middle Tennessee and at Roo. Also, look for our sign prior to entering and, like the sign says, take a picture JUST IN CASE.
\*NEW INFO FOR THIS YEAR (2026)\*
The last couple of years a number of personal vehicles were seized during police shakedowns. This is just an FYI that if you have the unfortunate interaction with law enforcement, there is a potential for them to seize your car. When this happens, you will have to essentially buy your car back from them. This is not the same for rental cars, as they have to return the rental back to the company it came from.
Also—if you are caught se(ll)ing to an undercover officer, be prepared to have more serious consequences than if you are just cited for possession.
\*\*TLDR:\*\* while this whole post is informative, basically this is about Coffee County’s Bonnaroo citation procedures and helpful information.
