Posted on 07/01/2007 7:11:30 AM PDT by SmithL
When he wanted a training academy and firing range, he built them.
When he needed a helicopter pilot, he learned to fly.
When a bad guy ran, he chased him.
He didn’t ask permission. He didn’t hold meetings. He didn’t hire a consultant.
He just did it.
If there is any one trait that defines Tim Hutchison, Knox County’s longest-serving sheriff, it is this: He is a man of action, doing what he wants, when he wants and how he wants.
“I’m the kind of person that if you need to get something done, let’s go do it,” said Hutchison, 54. “Government, unfortunately, is bad to bog down. We have meetings to decide to have more meetings.”
Today marks Hutchison’s first official day of retirement. He served as sheriff until January, when a Tennessee Supreme Court decision upholding term limits forced him out. Newly appointed Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones kept Hutchison on for several months as assistant chief deputy, allowing him to qualify at retirement for an annual pension of more than $80,000 a year under a new pension system.
Hutchison’s law enforcement career has spanned 32 years and election to a record-breaking five terms. In that time, the builder-turned-lawman has taken a police force once regarded by some as a laughingstock and turned it into one of the state’s law enforcement leaders.
He’s shored up a voter base marked by its loyalty. He’s amassed unprecedented political power, evidenced by a Knox County Commission that features a majority squarely in his corner.
He’s also racked up plenty of political enemies and critics. He’s dodged arrows of complaints, ranging from quarrels with his act-first, ask-later management style to questions about his use of seized drug money and inmate labor. He’s fended off lawsuits and suffered losses, including a conviction for criminal contempt.
And Hutchison departs while still very much a source of controversy. Last week, as Knoxville lawyer and Hutchison foe Herbert S. Moncier tried in a hearing in Nashville to block Hutchison from drawing a full $80,000-plus pension, Jones changed his old boss and friend’s job title.
It’s an administrative move meant to ensure that Hutchison safely collects the full benefit narrowly approved by voters in November, rather than the approximately $22,000 he would have collected under the old system.
Ask former school board member and one-time county Republican Party chairman Brian Hornback what he would title Hutchison’s biography, and his answer is swift: “The guy’s a good lawman. You can’t take that away from him.”
Hutchison didn’t set out to be an enforcer of the law.
“I never wanted to be sheriff,” he said. “I’ve learned to never say never.”
It was 1975. Hutchison was in his early 20s and running a construction business. But times were proving tough for him, just a few years into his marriage with wife Jan.
So Hutchison took a job as a process server with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. If a jailer’s slot is on the bottom floor of a sheriff’s department, a process server is in the basement.
But Hutchison was bitten.
“Once I got there, it just hit me,” he said. “I liked to be able to help other people.”
It didn’t take long for him to rise through the ranks. In just a few years, he had earned the rank of lieutenant. At the time, KCSO Chief Deputy Tom Spangler worked as a deputy under Hutchison’s command. In 1989, Lt. Hutchison made a stunning announcement — he was pondering a bid for sheriff.
“I just kind of snickered and said, ‘You think you can win?’ ” Spangler recalled. “He said, ‘If I didn’t, I certainly wouldn’t run.’ That told me right then, he’s a man who goes after what he wants.”
Hutchison won — handily. He has yet to lose an election.
“I don’t know what else to call him,” said ex-county Republican Party chairman Chad Tindell. “Tim Hutchison started out serving process papers. He’s done everything in that department.”
Hutchison came to the sheriff’s post in 1990 with a high school diploma. A native Knox Countian, he was more skilled at relating to the populace than playing politics.
“People make certain assumptions about Tim because he doesn’t have a lot of formal education,” said Dwight Van de Vate, a longtime employee of Hutchison who wound up as spokesman for Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale.
“I worked closely with him for many years, and there’s simply no question he’s one of the smartest and most complicated men I’ve ever known,” Van de Vate said.
One of Hutchison’s first official acts as sheriff was to create patrols targeting two communities key to any Knox County election, Farragut and Halls. Another decision, the restructuring of patrol shifts to give deputies more of a break between them, would endear him to the employees who would later serve him well in re-election campaigns.
He also made a habit of attending community functions, from PTA meetings to July 4 parades. Later, he would host picnics and parties, showing off his department’s strengths and one of his own — charisma.
“He is a very charismatic individual,” Spangler said. “You either like him or you don’t.”
With the voter base content and employees happy, Hutchison set his sights on building a law enforcement dynasty.
“We were a laughingstock,” Spangler said. “We were considered the country bumpkin law enforcement agency at the time.”
That’s what former employee Todd Cook would call Hutchison’s life story. Cook now works for Ragsdale, the man considered in political circles to be Hutchison’s key rival of late.
“Tim’s a hands-on leader,” Cook said.
Dwight Kessel, the county executive for 14 years, including Hutchison’s first term in office, noted that of any adjective one might apply to the determined sheriff, “wishy-washy” wasn’t among them.
“If he thought he was right, he would hang in there, and that’s a good thing in politics,” Kessel said. “You don’t want someone who’s wishy-washy. You don’t want a pussycat fighting a bulldog. Tim is surely no yes-man.”
In a few short years, Hutchison took an agency with nothing and outfitted it with all manner of toys, including drug-sniffing canines, skilled bomb squad technicians, and helicopters. Relying on his carpentry skills and inmate labor, he and a handful of loyal employees built a firing range and a training academy.
“He brought the Knox County Sheriff’s Office from the dark ages,” Sheriff Jones said.
“He set goals and however he had to do to reach them, he did it.”
It was in that “however” that a core group of critics began to grow. Chief among them was then-County Commissioner Wanda Moody and lawyer Moncier. The pair filed numerous lawsuits against Hutchison, raising questions about his methods.
One of the lawsuits led to a conviction on Hutchison’s record for failing to turn over public records. State auditors also weighed in, opining that Hutchison had improperly used drug seizure money to build his training academy and firing range.
But Hutchison typically overcame his critics. Ultimately, a County Commission that exercised the only real control over any elected official in Knox County — the purse strings — became packed with both employees and political supporters.
His budget grew. So did his clout.
“Tim Hutchison has been extremely popular with the voters, and, therefore, a lot of people because they liked Tim Hutchison, if there was an issue or a candidate he was for, he could drive the vote,” Tindell said.
That word alone would be the label Van de Vate would put on the cover of Hutchison’s biography.
“He is incredibly determined,” he said. “When he chooses to be, he can be just remarkably focused.”
The more time Hutchison spent in office, the more criticism he faced. At one point, even Jones abandoned him, calling Hutchison “paranoid” and power-thirsty. He became the Big Foot of politics, unseen but feared nonetheless with rumors of his string-pulling ways.
He waged war with the media, particularly the News Sentinel, which raised questions about his management of the county jail, his autocratic style, his investigative methods, his efforts to limit jail visits between defense attorneys and inmates, and his Sevier County land dealings. He accused the paper and its editors of maligning him.
Former Knoxville Police Chief Phil Keith and Hutchison clashed almost from the start of the sheriff’s career. They feuded over all manner of things, from fingerprint sharing to murder probes.
“His main weakness, I would say, is it’s his way or the highway,” Keith said. “Cooperation might not be his strong suit.”
Now that both men are out of power as the region’s top lawmen, both are rather conciliatory toward each other.
“We just had different approaches to our job,” Keith said.
“I think Phil’s extremely competitive,” Hutchison said. “We get along fine now.”
Ask Hutchison to title his autobiography, and here’s your answer: “I care.”
“Many that hate me don’t really know me,” he said. “I think people that know me know I am sincere about wanting to help other people. I like people. I don’t necessarily like the politics of the job. But I like the people I meet as part of the politics.”
Political attacks, public wars and a plethora of lawsuits have taken a toll on Hutchison, his wife of 34 years, his two daughters and three grandchildren.
“It’s been hard on my family,” he said.
He disavows the notion that he controls Knox County’s Republican Party, as do Tindell and Hornback.
“People want to think he’s the puppet master,” Hornback said. “I don’t see Tim being the puppet master. The only time that Tim got involved was when I called and asked him to be involved.”
There are two things one should not expect from Hutchison — an apology or an exit.
“What I’m most appreciative of is the citizens for their great faith and support and the employees for their service and dedication,” Hutchison said. “I do lean toward staying in public service. I’m receiving a lot of calls asking me to run for another countywide position in three years. I’m just not sure.”
Typical Hutchison. He says that but nothing more. He’ll announce his future plans when he wants, how he wants and where he wants.
He may be retired, but I doubt we’ve heard the last of Sheriff Hutchison. Especially if Moncier gets his way.
Hutchinson may run for county mayor as we talked about before but I look for his next political move to be likely County Commission which would also allow him to pursue private sector security positions. There's plenty of places in Knox and surrounding Counties for him to find such work. The commissioner who's brought the action I think is doing it for spite and as one person that was involved in the defense stated likely doesn't even understand what's going on.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.