Metro Pulse/Cover/County Elections 2002

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Rags to Executive
Unopposed for county executive, Mike Ragsdale sets the agenda that most Commission candidates tend to follow

Trend Toward Lockstep
Commission candidates nearly all stand for economic development plus education

Bean v. Quist
A simple court clerkship can stir up quite a political stew

Tim v. Them
Sheriff Hutchison's got a race or two on his hands this time out

Sheriff Hutchison's got a race or two on his hands this time out

by Barry Henderson

Tim Hutchison is going after a fourth term as sheriff of Knox County. His candidacy is built on a trail of marked successes, notable failures, continuing controversies and recently publicized questions about his department's handling of confiscated drug money.

It's a spotty record at best for a man who was selected Sheriff of the Year in 1998 by the National Sheriffs' Association. But Hutchison has ridden his popularity among rank & file Republican voters to two previous reelections, dousing previous disputes that arose over some of his associations, his political meddling, his antagonism toward other law enforcement agencies—especially the Knoxville Police Department—and his independence from County Commission review of his spending.

This time out, Hutchison faces GOP primary election opposition in the form of a former ally, a man he promoted to chief of detectives and who left in a huff and went to work for KPD at a pay cut. J.J. "Jimmy" Jones, who is running on a platform that rests largely on the plank of restoring inter-agency cooperation, resigned two years ago, calling Hutchison a "paranoid, selfish, power-crazed tyrant." He has been campaigning quietly, without criticizing Hutchison directly but asserting that he would run the sheriff's office differently and much less "politically."

The 43-year-old Jones worked his way up the departmental ladder for 17 years, with his important promotions coming under Hutchison's tenure. Their view of the department varies markedly. Hutchison maintains that employee morale is excellent, and Jones claims that it is dismal. The sheriff has been keeping a low profile since his ill-fated attempt three years ago to get personal control over a massive downtown justice center project. Most recently, Hutchison has been under fire for leasing hangar space for the department's six helicopters from a convicted Sevier County drug dealer and for alleged imperfect accounting for tens of thousands of dollars in cash confiscated during drug investigations. He ignored requests for an interview for this election summary.

Hutchison, who is 49, has spent 26 years with the department and was its fair-haired boy when he ran successfully against the incumbent Democrat, Joe Fowler, in 1990. The timing was such and his popularity so evident that he was able to use his political influence to sway a number of county elections. He did so without fanfare, but his clout was widely acknowledged. Along the way, he acquired political enemies, including Mayor Victor Ashe. The relationship between the sheriff's office and city police degenerated to the point where there is literally no official interaction and very limited discussion at the patrol level, where deputies are reluctant to talk openly with city officers. It makes for awkward situations and limits the effectiveness of enforcement in both jurisdictions, as little or no information on criminal activity is shared.

"I'd like to show how effective inter-agency cooperation can be," says Jones, who worked for more than 10 years with the Metro Narcotics Unit, ending up in its command before it was disbanded by Hutchison seven years ago. Now a special officer working on major unsolved city crimes, Jones says he believes that "if [the sheriff] would give just a little bit, Phil [Keith, the city's police chief] would jump at the chance to work together." He says he knows of continued overtures by Keith to secure cooperation. And he shrugs off the claim that he's running against Hutchison as a condition of employment by the city. "That's more of the same political nonsense," he says.

"I don't think the sheriff should be using the office to influence the public's decisions in the election of other offices—judges, the attorney general, etc.," Jones says, adding that he wants to "put sheriffing back in the sheriff's office." Jones has a wide-ranging list of improvements he'd like to see made in department operations, training and "accountability."

Another candidate in the Republican primary, Carlos Ramsey, a former police officer, has not done well in previous election attempts, and an independent candidate, Greg Cox, is a former jailer who will appear on the August general election ballot, but who admits to a "shoestring budget" and an uphill struggle.

Democrat Jim Andrews, however, is an attorney with broad law enforcement experience, both as an officer and as an instructor, who has acquired backing and has the potential to raise considerable campaign money. At 56, he says he wants to improve training, education, management and productivity within the department. He calls himself "the most qualified candidate," and he's unopposed in the Democrat primary. He'll face the winning Republican in August.