Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-22-102: Suspension of execution to permit application for pardon

Whenever a plea of guilty is entered by the defendant to an indictment charging a felony, and it appears to the circuit or criminal court judge receiving the plea that the prisoner is only technically guilty, or that there are circumstances or conditions connected with the alleged crime or in the defendant's life and surroundings tending to mitigate the offense, or if it is the prisoner's first offense, and it is not likely that the prisoner will again engage in an offensive and criminal course of conduct if released, and in the opinion of the presiding judge the public good does not require that the defendant suffer the disgrace of imprisonment at hard labor in the penitentiary, the execution of sentence and judgment may, in the discretion of the judge, be suspended until the next term of the court, so as to enable application to be made to the governor for a pardon.