Forgery is the criminal offense of making or uttering a false document or other instrument with the intent to defraud or harm someone—including a written or printed document, money, coins, tokens, stamps, checks, cashier’s checks, bonds, money orders, traveler’s checks, real property deeds, contracts, stock certificates, lottery tickets, wills, seals, credit cards, badges, trademarks, and symbols of value, right, privilege, or identification. Uttering a document means to declare—either directly or indirectly, and through words or actions—that the document is legitimate and what it purports to be.

Forging a document includes altering, making, completing, executing, or authenticating a writing so it purports (1) to be the act of another who did not authorize that act; (2) to have been executed at a time or place or in a numbered sequence other than was in fact the case; or (3) to be a copy of an original when no such original existed.

Forging a document also includes the acts of issuing, transferring, registering the transfer of, recording, passing, publishing, or otherwise uttering a document that is forged. And in some states the mere possession of a forged document with the intent to utter it constitutes forging a document.

The definitions, penalties, and punishments for the crime of forgery vary from state to state and are generally located in a state’s statutes—often in the penal or criminal code.

In Tennessee, forgery is defined under Tennessee Code Annotated (T.C.A.) § 39-14-114. The offense encompasses the creation, alteration, or possession of a false document with the intent to defraud or harm another party. This includes a wide range of documents such as checks, contracts, identification cards, and legal certificates. The act of uttering refers to presenting or using a forged document as if it were genuine. Tennessee law also considers it forgery to alter or falsify a document in a way that it appears to be something it is not, such as changing the date, the issuer, or the sequence of issuance, or claiming it to be a copy of a non-existent original. The penalties for forgery in Tennessee can vary depending on the specifics of the crime, including the type of document forged and the value involved, but it is generally treated as a felony offense. The severity of the punishment is determined by the classification of the felony, which can range from a Class E to a Class A felony, with corresponding penalties including fines, restitution, and imprisonment.