Posted on 01/25/2005 12:28:42 PM PST by SmithL
Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale wrote a $300 check to buy some peace Monday, but he doesn't know yet if he'll get his money's worth.
"Today I'm taking a step to hopefully end this madness," Ragsdale said in a news conference at his office. "So as Mike Ragsdale, private citizen, I've taken $300 of my private funds and paid the fine against Sheriff (Tim) Hutchison."
Ragsdale was referring to a criminal contempt of court fine levied against Hutchison two years ago for deliberately making false statements to a court about public records sought by Commissioner Wanda S. Moody in one of her lawsuits against him.
Hutchison did not pay the fine, and he appealed the contempt finding.
Knox County taxpayers have paid more than $93,000 to a private law firm so far to handle the sheriff's appeal.
Altogether Ragsdale said the county has been billed $181,000 for private legal and other expenses related to the Moody lawsuits. That includes $30,000 this month alone.
Not only Hutchison, but Ragsdale and the Knox County Commission now have their own lawyers in the contempt case. Knox County Law Director Mike Moyers' office is handling other aspects of the four pending Moody lawsuits.
"Throughout all this, the losers are the Knox County taxpayers," said Ragsdale, indicating he was acting in hopes it would help end the long legal battle between Moody and Hutchison.
The county mayor asked them to do whatever it takes to settle the disputes for the good of the county, even if it means locking themselves in a room until they work it out.
"No rational person would have allowed this matter to get this far, and no ordinary citizen could afford to fund it any further," Ragsdale wrote in a letter to Moody and Hutchison on Monday.
Neither Moody's attorney, Herbert S. Moncier, nor Hutchison's attorney on the contempt appeal, Dean B. Farmer, indicated that the sheriff's appeal or the other cases are going away.
"I applaud Mayor Ragsdale's effort to get this resolved," said Farmer. "I think it's a good idea, and I'm sure the sheriff does, too."
He said, though, that what would end the appeal is if the parties settle the lawsuits pending in Chancery Court.
Asked whether the appeal will be dropped, Farmer replied, "No, we are planning to do whatever we can do to resolve it."
Moncier said he had been in court all day and had not seen Ragsdale's letter yet.
"My one question is does this mean that Sheriff Hutchison is dismissing his appeal and the contempt conviction is final?" he asked.
Moncier indicated if that wasn't a provision of Ragsdale's "generous offer," then the mayor might have spent his money for nothing.
The legal battle stems from a single lawsuit filed by Moody six years ago arguing that state law barred Hutchison from overseeing construction of the then-proposed downtown justice center.
She followed that up with an action arguing Hutchison couldn't use taxpayer money and drug and other seizure monies for things such as maintaining horses patrols, helicopters and constructing buildings without County Commission approval.
None of the cases has ever made it to trial, though three different judges have handled them so far.
The criminal contempt of court action arose from a Public Records Act request Moncier made in 2002 for records pertaining to the maintenance of the horses and helicopters and some construction projects among other things.
The Sheriff's Office responded with a handful of documents indicating that was all it had relevant to the request.
A few days later, after Chancellor Daryl R. Fansler urged the office to do better, it turned over 15 boxes of public records.
Fansler subsequently held the sheriff in contempt, fining him and ruling that he deliberately misled the court.
The Tennessee Court of Appeals upheld the ruling last year and ruled that Hutchison was personally responsible for paying the fine.
Ragsdale, who said county office holders and their staffs have spent untold hours responding to filings in the lawsuits, just wants the parties to settle them.
"Let's stop this disaster. I'm pleading with you, and the taxpayers are pleading with you. Let's end it and let's end it now," he said.
Reading the article, this guy isn't doing anyone a favor by paying the sheriff's fine. The sheriff was in contempt and should be held responsible for not only the fine, but interest and all court costs at this point.
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