Posted on 06/28/2007 8:37:13 PM PDT by SmithL
NASHVILLE — Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle today ordered former Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchison’s status as a certified law enforcement officer suspended immediately.
Lyle said the suspension will remain in effect pending the outcome of an Aug. 16 hearing on Hutchison’s certification before the Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Commission.
“Considering that thousands of tax dollars may be irrevocably and wrongfully committed if this court does not act immediately, that an aborted inquiry and investigation by the POST Commission harms the public perception of the certification process in the state of Tennessee, and considering that counsel for Deputy Sheriff Hutchison has concluded that decertifying the sheriff will have no bearing on and will not prejudice the deputy’s job or pension, the court finds that the public welfare imperatively requires emergency action,” Lyle wrote in a 12-page order issued this afternoon.
The quick action is prompted by Hutchison’s July 1 retirement — and the outcome of the matter could affect the former sheriff’s pension.
On Wednesday, Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones changed the job title of Hutchison, his administrative assistant, which cut Hutchison’s pay by more than $22,000.
It was a move that Jones said would secure Hutchison’s claim for a full pension when he retires July 1. The pension, of about $80,000 annually, is being challenged by Hutchison’s longtime nemesis Herbert S. Moncier, a Knoxville lawyer.
Moncier had filed lawsuits arguing that decertification of Hutchison as a law enforcement officer — on grounds of a conviction for criminal contempt of court — could disqualify him for the pension.
On Wednesday, Jones announced that he was shifting Hutchison to a position for which law enforcement certification by the state Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission is not required to secure a pension.
In official jargon, according to a press release issued Wednesday, Hutchison is being named a “sworn non-merit council assistant chief deputy of administration,” an appointed position not covered by the merit council.
Until Wednesday, Hutchison’s title was sworn merit council assistant chief deputy.
“Kim Bennett from the Knox County Pension Board has stated that POST certification does not affect Hutchison’s pension, which begins July 1,” the press release stated.
Hutchison was earning $99,141.82 annually under his merit council position. The appointed position pays $76,674.52.
Hutchison has spent 32 years with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. He was elected sheriff to five straight four-year terms. A Tennessee Supreme Court decision on term limits forced him out of office Jan. 31.
Knox County Commission appointed Jones to replace Hutchison, and Jones hired Hutchison so he could continue as a KCSO employee until his July 1 retirement.
Knox County voters approved the new pension plan last November, giving deputies a defined-benefit plan that generally provides 75 percent of their salaries upon retirement, plus annual 3 percent cost-of-living increases.
Previously, deputies had a defined contribution plan similar to a 401(k) with significantly lower retirement benefits.
The second lawsuit has been assigned to Davidson County Chancellor Richard Dinkins, who had not scheduled a hearing on it. Lyle wrote that Dinkins may wish to transfer the case to her and, if so, "this court is prepared to make an immediate ruling on the request for emergency relief."
Yeah, she's been gunning for Hutchison, right from the start.
No resolution on motion about ex-sheriff's pension
By Jim Balloch (Contact) Saturday, June 30, 2007
A last-ditch effort by lawyer Herb Moncier to challenge former sheriff Tim Hutchison’s anticipated pension turned into a bizarre Chancery Court marathon Friday.
When court began Friday morning, it was expected that Chancellor John Weaver would rule on a pending motion by Moncier to stay any action by the Knox County Pension Board, then hear evidence and testimony in a related case in which Moncier alleges that his client, former County Commissioner Bee DeSelm, was denied public records needed to pursue an action against the sheriff.
But complex procedural issues in the overlapping cases resulted in Weaver adjourning the first case to take up the second, then having to go back and forth between the two.
Lawyers for Hutchison and several other parties were still wrangling with Moncier late into the night Friday, with no resolution.
There was considerable testiness throughout the day and into the evening.
At one point, an exasperated Weaver said to all of the lawyers, “Do I even need to be here, or do y’all just want to talk?”
Robert Watson, who represents Deputy Law Director Mary Anne Stackhouse, called DeSelm to the stand and peppered her with questions designed to determine if it was she or Moncier who was really behind the lawsuits.
“This lady doesn’t even know what this lawsuit is about,” he said.
Moncier said he is representing DeSelm in her efforts “to have Timothy Hutchison comply with Knox County law.”
Hutchison was forced out of office at the start of his fifth term by a court decision on term limits. He is now an assistant to his successor, Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones.
By remaining an employee through July 1, Hutchison apparently becomes eligible for a pension of about $80,000 — or $60,000 more than what he would have made under an earlier pension plan.
But in a move that Moncier contends could affect that, a judge in Nashville on Thursday ordered that Hutchison’s official certification as a law enforcement officer be suspended, pending an Aug. 16 hearing of the Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission.
The Nashville judge ruled that Hutchison’s six convictions for criminal contempt of court in 2003 are sufficient to decertify him, and that POST’s decision not to do so in 2003 was in error.
Two questions pop in my mind. Is the Federal Judge in Greeneville a friend of Hutchinson? Is the judge in Greeneville a Republican? One thing stated in an earlier article is indeed strange. Four years and all of the sudden this is an emergency? What created the sudden emergency? I find some interesting insight in Watsons comments as well. Cas is laughing from his grave. Not even the Old Coon Hunter himself could have pulled this nonsense off.
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.