Anderson County Sheriff Paul White and Chief Deputy Mark Lucas present Capt. Penny Baker with a plaque celebrating her 32 years of service. (Photo submitted by Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)
Capt. Penny Baker, a 32-year-veteran of the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, has retired.
Baker started her career at the department as a dispatcher in 1980. She served as a patrol deputy from 1982 until 1985, when she was assigned to criminal investigations as a detective, a press release said.
Dave Clark
A new law that allows law enforcement to require a driver suspected of drunk or impaired driving to give a blood sample is being enforced in Anderson County from Tuesday, July 3 through Sunday, July 8, District Attorney General Dave Clark announced Monday.
Clark said it is Tennessee’s first operation to implement the new law and will involve saturation patrols, roadblocks and other special law enforcement actions.
The July 4 holiday is one of the deadliest, and Anderson County authorities are stepping up their efforts this week to catch drivers impaired by drugs or alcohol.
“Too many people die behind the wheel each year due to those who choose to drive after drinking, so our deputies will be out in full force this Fourth of July showing zero tolerance for impaired drivers,” Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said in a press release.
After weeks of wrangling, a budget standoff between Anderson County officials and the sheriff was quickly resolved Monday as county commissioners voted 13-0 to approve a budget that doesn’t include a tax increase but sets aside money for more jailers.
The goal was to give Anderson County Sheriff Paul White a total of 13 jailers so he can open a new 128-bed minimum security dormitory this summer. After a tax hike last year, county officials didn’t want to raise the property tax rate again this year.
Editor’s note: Anderson County Interim Mayor Myron Iwanski has proposed a solution to a budget standoff between county officials who don’t want to raise taxes and Sheriff Paul White, who says he needs at least 13 jailers to open a 128-bed minimum security dormitory. Here’s the proposal that Iwanski sent to county commissioners and staff members on Wednesday.
After last night’s meeting, I had a chance to talk to some of you, Sheriff White, and Avery Johnson about the sheriff’s budget. Based on your, the sheriff’s, and Avery’s input, I would like to offer a no-tax-increase solution for the sheriff’s budget that will allow the jail dormitory to be open and also address the longer term jail expansion staffing needs.
My proposal authorizes the sheriff to hire the 13 jailers he said he needs to open the new dormitory—but has some conditions that County Commission and the sheriff would need to agree to for us to do it in a fiscally responsible way.
Anderson County commissioners try to resolve a funding standoff with Sheriff Paul White, right, during a Monday night meeting. Also pictured from left are commissioners Johnny Alley, Jerry White, and Rick Meredith.
CLINTON–The sheriff insisted he needs at least 13 jailers to open a new dormitory this summer but the county commission would not raise property taxes again, so a budget standoff remained unresolved after a special meeting Tuesday night.
The Anderson County Budget Committee will wrestle with the budget again during an afternoon meeting next Monday, and the County Commission will hear any new proposals during its regular meeting that evening.
Anderson County commissioners vote to give the Sheriff's Department an extra $200,000 to hire five jailers for a minimum-security dormitory expected to open this month.
CLINTON — Trying to find a compromise, Anderson County officials used more optimistic projections for property and sales tax revenue collections to give the Sheriff’s Department an extra $203,000 in next year’s budget, enough to hire five jailers.
However, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White had requested 15 jailers to staff a 128-bed minimum security dormitory expected to open this month.
Iwanski
A $1.8 million impasse over funding for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department could be resolved tonight.
Anderson County Sheriff Paul White has requested extra money in his budget to buy new cars, cover higher costs, and hire 15 jailers for a minimum security jail dormitory expected to open by June, among other things.
But so far, county officials, including Anderson County Mayor Myron Iwanski, have seemed reluctant to provide the additional funding.
“There’s no way they can do it without a tax increase,” Iwanski said Monday morning. “There’s very little interest in a tax increase.”
Citing the quick response time to a recent shooting, Anderson County Sheriff's Department Lt. Kenny Sharp objects to a proposal to reduce the number of take-home vehicles during a budget hearing Thursday.
CLINTON—Anderson County Sheriff’s Department employees and their supporters made impassioned pleas Thursday for more money to hire jailers, avoid service cuts, and cover higher operating costs.
They also objected to a proposal to cut the number of take-home vehicles for employees. Several said they would support a wheel tax to raise money for the Sheriff’s Department and other critical county services.
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is taking part in the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” and the “Click It or Ticket” enforcement campaigns by conducting saturation patrols during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, a press release said. Saturation patrols have a large number of officers concentrated into a small geographic area.
These safety stops are an effort to decrease the number of impaired drivers and seat belt law violators. Deputies will be focusing on enforcing state laws concerning driving under the influence, speeding, seat belt use, and aggressive driving, the press release said.
The Anderson County Sheriff's Department has had modest staffing increases in the last decade or so and significant increases in arrests starting in 2007, particularly burglary and theft arrests. (Chart submitted by Sheriff's Department)
The number of arrests per year in Anderson County has more than doubled since 2005, according to a recent presentation by the Sheriff’s Department.
There have been significant increases in burglary and theft arrests, as well as arrests for drug crimes.
Total arrests have risen from roughly 1,100 or fewer in 2006 and earlier years to more than 2,000 per year from 2008 to 2010.
Law enforcement personnel from the Oak Ridge Police Department and Anderson County Sheriff's Department stand at attention Tuesday during a National Peace Officers Memorial Day ceremony at the Municipal Building.
A Tuesday memorial service honored law enforcement officers who died while working and paid tribute to those who have died since retiring.
“Their sacrifices will never be forgotten,” Oak Ridge Police Chief James T. Akagi said after the afternoon ceremony at the Municipal Building. “It’s a sacred bond between law enforcement officers.”
Tuesday was National Peace Officers Memorial Day, and this week is National Police Week.
