Almost two months after the August 3rd election, it appears there is now a winner in the race for Criminal Court Judge Part II in the 13th Judicial District.
Retired Nashville Judge Ben Cantrell, appointed to hear the election contest lawsuit filed by Lillie Ann Sells, dismissed the case Wednesday night after hearing two days of testimony in the Putnam County Chancery Court hearing.
Judge Sells, who lost her re-election bid to challenger David Patterson by 10 votes, asked that the election be voided
Sells filed her “contest of election” suit on August 17, alleging that various irregularities occurred in the voting on election day and asking the Chancery Court to review her allegations and either declare her the winner or order a new election.
Among her allegations are claims that convicted felons voted in one county, that voters applying for absentee ballots were not required to furnish their Social Security numbers, that voters spent too much time in the voting booths in some instances, and that a non-resident of the district was allowed to vote in one county.
Judge Cantrell ruled that he could find only one or two votes that shouldn’t count. One of those ballots was cast by a convicted felon in White County. The other was an absentee ballot signed by someone who assisted the voter, with no witness signature present.
The other contested ballots had missing information, such as a Social Security number, reason for voting absentee or dates of the voter’s absence.
Many of the requests or applications for absentee ballots were elderly voters, who are allowed by law to vote absentee if they are over 65 years old. However Stephen Zralek of Nashville, Sells’ attorney, said that those votes should not be counted when the voter’s age is not specifically listed as the reason for voting absentee, even though the voter’s birth date is clearly on the application.
Zralek claimed that those missing items were necessary in order to process applications for absentee voting, according to the law governing absentee ballots. Zralek contended that the strict rules of absentee voting should be followed, saying, “The violations of the statute affect the freedom and purity of the ballot. Either the law is strictly complied or it’s not.”
Defense attorneys argued that Sells’ complaint over the election alleges no fraud or purposeful wrongdoing on the part of administrators or voters in that election.
Judge Cantrell sided with the defense saying there was no proof of any fraud, no allegations of any fraud and no proof of conspiracy. The judge said he didn’t believe that the statute requires applications for absentee ballots to list Social Security numbers.
Sells has 30 days to appeal Judge Cantrell’s decision.
John M. Roberts of Livingston has been serving as an appointed interim judge, pending the outcome of this case.

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department has made an arrest in a local theft investigation.
Sheriff Patrick Ray says 22 year old Daniel Rose of 410 South College Street has been charged with aggravated burglary, theft under $500, and forgery.
Sheriff Ray says on or about Wednesday, September 20th, Rose allegedly stole a check made out for $400 from a residence on Allen’s Ferry Road. He then allegedly forged a signature on the check and cashed it at a local bank.
His bond is set at $12,500.

A man and woman were arrested Wednesday after officers of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department found marijuana in their residence.
28 year old Joseph McCoy of 200 Huddleston Loop, off Adcock Cemetery Road is charged with manufacturing, delivery, and sale of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and failure to appear. His bond is $61,000.
22 year old Bonnie McCoy of the same address is charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and manufacturing, sale, and delivery of marijuana. Her bond is $60,000.
Sheriff Patrick Ray says deputies went to the residence to serve a failure to appear warrant on Joseph McCoy when they smelled the odor of marijuana that had been smoked . Upon a further investigation, officers found a large amount of marijuana inside a container along with drug paraphernalia including bongs, pipes, hemostats, and seeds.
The McCoys will appear in General Sessions Court on October 4th.

A Smithville man, wanted by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department since last week, is now in custody.
30 year old William Paul McGee was arrested Wednesday night in Warren County.
Sheriff Patrick Ray says Warren County investigators found his vehicle at an apartment complex and contacted the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department.
Sheriff Ray says DeKalb and Warren County officers set up surveillance and closed in as McGee emerged from the apartments. He says McGee jumped in his vehicle and took off, hitting a utility pole behind the apartments, before he was stopped and placed in custody.
McGee has been charged in DeKalb County with reckless endangerment and felony evading arrest. His bond on these charges is $41,000
McGee is also wanted on other charges in at least two other counties.
Authorities believe McGee and 21 year old Josh Neal were the two men in a Jeep Cherokee that ran from county deputies on Tuesday night, September 19th which led to Officer Andy Snow losing control of his patrol car and overturning on Short Mountain Road near the DeKalb/Cannon County line.
Neal was arrested the next day.
McGee remained at large until Wednesday.

A 20 year old Smithville man has been arrested on multiple counts of burglary and vandalism as the result of an investigation by the Smithville Police and DeKalb County Sheriff’s Departments.
In a prepared news release, Thomas J. Stufano, Executive Officer of the Smithville Police Department, says Brian Dewayne Thomason of 439 Morgan Drive is charged with one count of aggravated burglary of a dwelling, two counts of vandalism to a structure and five counts of burglary of vehicles occurring on West Spring Street, Fisher Avenue, Short Mountain Street, Anthony Avenue, Kendra Drive, and Meadowbrook Drive. Additional charges could be filed pending a further investigation.
Thomason was booked into the DeKalb County Jail with bail set at $32,000.
According to the news release, “On Wednesday, September 27th at approximately 11:20 p.m. police officers and sheriff’s deputies working a Burglary Task Force in the 300 block of West Bryant Street were able to positively identify and arrest a suspect who had eluded authorities for almost three weeks.” The suspect, Thomason, is accused of breaking into seven residences and automobiles.
“Based on leads, reports and witness statements over the last three weeks concerning the escalating rise in burglaries in the area, officers canvassed the neighborhoods speaking to residents and tracking prospective movements of the suspect. With the cooperation of good neighbors and concerned citizens coupled with fast police response times and effective report writing, Task Force Officers working the cases were able to easily identify the suspect.”
“Smithville Police Sergeant Steve Deffendoll, Officer Bill Elliott, Officer Lelani Defore, and DeKalb County Sheriff’s Detective Chris Russell were able to closely align and track the suspect’s movements over the past three weeks that plagued these quiet residential areas.”
“Incidental to the arrest, Mr. Thomason voluntarily cooperated with the investigation identifying additional areas he had either broken into or attempted to break into but had been stopped by vigilant neighbors who called the police. During his interview, Thomason stated that he was able to keep track of police response times in order to time his get away by using a portable handheld police scanner.”
Stufano’s news release states that ” In speaking to the victims and neighbors, all were highly in favor of the city’s new Crime Watch Program due to roll out shortly. This nationally recognized crime prevention program trains citizens on how and what to look for when reporting incidents. Additionally, home and business inspections are performed to help provide a safer living or working environment. Simple methods such as replacing outside light bulbs that have burned out or trimming hedges that block windows, and making sure your car doors and windows are locked are things citizens can do to deter crime in their area.”

Governor Phil Bredesen and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Matthew Kisber recently approved a $366,730 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to assist in improvements to the Alexandria sewer system collection system in DeKalb County.
?I?m glad the state of Tennessee can provide funding to improve sewer systems and expand economic opportunities in communities, like DeKalb County,? said Bredesen. ?The CDBG grants maintain and update community resources and improve the overall economic and environmental health of our state.?
Funding for the $403,000 project will include $36,270 in local funds. The funds were provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and were allocated under a procedure authorized by the Tennessee General Assembly. The grants were approved by the ECD Loan and Grant Committee following an application by each county.
?CDBG grants help Tennessee communities lay the groundwork for economic development through improvements to roads, water and sewer facilities and the overall quality of life? said Kisber. ?I’m proud the State of Tennessee can play a role in the progress of our communities.?
The grant was approved following an application by the Town of Alexandria and has the support of State Representative Frank Buck. U.S. Senators Bill Frist and Lamar Alexander and Congressman Bart Gordon aided in securing the funds.
?Such grants are a good example of long range planning by local government. I give credit to our
officials for their vision and willingness to do the work necessary to apply for CDBG funding.
This is a win-win situation for our community and the state,? said Rep. Frank Buck.
Allocation of CDBG funds is based on priorities set at local levels where community needs are best known. The CDBG program is administered in Tennessee by the Department of Economic and Community Development.

The Smithville Board of Mayor and Aldermen is scheduled to adopt an ordinance on second and final reading Monday night to charge for making copies of public documents, requested by the public, and for the time required by city employees to produce those documents.
The council adopted the ordinance on first reading September 18th and a public hearing will be held prior to second reading passage Monday night, October 2nd at 7:00 p.m. at city hall.
The City has sought assistance from MTAS, the Municipal Technical Advisory Service, in preparing the ordinance, which is similar to ordinances in other cities.
However a legal challenge is being mounted against Loudon County over their fee policy.
The Knoxville News Sentinel, in their Wednesday, September, 20th edition, reported that a Chancery Court petition for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief has been filed on behalf of three Loudon County residents.
Loudon County’s policy requires that those seeking access to county records come to the county mayor’s office and fill out a form. Applicants must pay $25 an hour plus 25 cents per page for copies; and there is a non-refundable minimum charge for the first hour that must be paid up front.
According to the state’s attorney general, local governments can’t charge for employees’ time spent fulfilling a public records request. That from Frank Gibson, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government.
According to Gibson, the attorney general says the only thing the law and the Tennessee Supreme Court has said is allowable under Tennessee law is the cost of the copies.
Under the proposed Smithville ordinance, fees for inspection and copying of city records shall cover the costs of retrieving, supervising access to, and inspection of, and reproduction of records.
“Such fees shall be as follows: seventy five cents per page for each photostatic copy provided by the city. Fees for items such as, but not limited to, cd roms, computer disks, and audio/video cassettes, will be assessed at the rate paid for such items by the city. Actual personnel costs related to time spent retrieving and accessing records based upon each involved employee’s effective hourly rate of pay, including benefits. Actual personnel costs related to time spent supervising access to and inspection of or reproduction of records based upon each involved employee’s effective hourly rate of pay, including benefits.”
The proposed ordinance states that “All fees for purposes identified in this chapter shall be due at the time such costs are incurred. If multiple copies are requested or copies are requested that require more than minimal time for retrieval, the City of Smithville may require a reasonable deposit for the estimated cost which must be paid prior to the retrieval of the records and prior to the commencement of copying said records. If the city employee involved in the retrieval and copying of records determines that the costs of retrieval will exceed the amount of the deposit, the city employee involved in the search and retrieval shall request an additional deposit sufficient to cover the estimated cost. No reproduction fee shall be assessed, other than the photostatic copy fee of seventy five cents per page, when an employee of the City of Smithville determines that the cost of charging and handling the fee exceeds the cost of providing a copy without charge.”

Judge Leon Burns, Jr. handed down sentences against five persons Monday in DeKalb County Criminal Court.
24 year old Christopher Hale received a five year sentence after pleading guilty to four counts of aggravated burglary, three counts of theft over $1,000, theft over $500, and theft under $500.
Hale must serve one year of the sentence either in jail or in Teen Challenge and make restitution. Hale was given credit for 96 days of jail time served.
28 year old Samuel Wade Walker pleaded guilty to theft over $10,000 and burglary. He received a three year sentence on probation after serving 150 days. He must make restitution of $1,000 to Johnny’s Drugs and perform 100 hours of community service work.
36 year old Richard Scott Adams pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and received a three year sentence on probation. He was given three months jail credit and must agree to testify against a co-defendant in the case.
18 year old Ben Pascal pleaded guilty to sale of a schedule III controlled substance, sale of a schedule IV controlled substance, and two counts of sale of a schedule II controlled substance. He received a total of four years to serve ninety days and then be on probation. He was fined $2,000, must make restitution of $535 , and perform 100 hours of community service.
53 year old Gary Marshall Carter was denied a request for judicial diversion and received a two year sentence after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to a charge of statutory rape. He must serve nine months and comply with the Sexual Offender Registration and Monitoring Act by registering with the TBI Sexual Offender Registry. He will be on probation for a total of four years.

The DeKalb County Commission is expected to set the property tax rate and adopt a new budget for the 2006-2007 fiscal year tonight (Monday).
The new fiscal year officially started July 1st, but the county has delayed passage of a new budget, partly because of the sales tax referendum, which was put before the voters and was defeated in the August General Election.
The commission must pass a budget by October 1st, or risk losing state funds or having the state set a budget and tax rate for the county.
County Mayor Mike Foster says county government needs a tax increase to operate this year and had the sales tax referendum passed in August, the size of any proposed property tax increase would not be as large as it is now.
The Budget Committee has met several times over the summer trying to whittle down the size of the proposed tax increase and has finally settled on 39 cents, down four cents from the previous proposal of 43 cents.
Foster says the budget committee will request that the county commission adopt a property tax rate of $1.90, a 39 cent increase over last year.
Here’s how the proposed tax rate would break down:
County General- 67 cents, a six cent increase
Schools- 73 cents, an eleven cent increase (plus $950,000 from the special school sinking/sales tax fund)
Debt Service- 29 cents, a nineteen cent increase (includes $771,000 to service the Northside School Debt and funds to service debt on the jail and landfill)
Highways- 3 cents (to recoup $216,000 in lost state funds and to purchase a loader at rock crusher)
Solid Waste- 18 cents
Even with some growth this year and a 39 cent tax increase, Foster says the county may still have to dip into the reserves to make it through the year. ” The 39 cents will actually impact the reserves just a little. The 43 cents is really what we needed to balance and that’s what the budget committee was trying to do. We had really good growth this year. The appraisals grew by $72-million which will generate about $260,000 in new money which is a big impact on our county. Hopefully, we will get that kind of growth again next year. If we do, that will about get us back to where we need to be.”
Foster says the school system will get more money than last year, with an eleven cent tax increase, but not as much as the 13 cent tax increase the school board had requested. “The school budget is about $15.8 million dollars and of that, there was about $70,000 in monies cut from it, a little bit here and a little bit there, but there are no jobs at risk. It was a cut in the amount of money they requested. There is ample money in there to cover maintenance of effort and then some.”
Foster says efforts have been made to make cuts from every department. “It’s really a complex thing. I’m fairly conservative and most of the commission is fairly conservative, but there are legal things you’ve got to do such as meeting maintenance of effort with the schools (not spending less than last year) and maintenance of effort with the sheriff’s department in that you can’t cut any employee position or salary without the sheriff’s permission. We did cut one position this year with the sheriff’s permission. Actually, we’ve got one less employee there (sheriff’s department) than we had last year.”
“There are so many federal and state guidelines that we absolutely have to meet. For example, it (state/federal government) says you must pick up and dispose of garbage. It doesn’t say how you do it. Of course, traditionally DeKalb County has had a solid waste disposal/landfill and now there has to be a new cell built. We’re in the process of building it and a big part of it (project) will come this year because the one (cell) that’s there now will be full by Christmas. That’s a necessity. There were no extra funds put in this year. The landfill operation is basically the same as it was six years ago. The big deal is the new cell.”
In addition to meeting the maintenance of effort requirements, Foster says county government has to account for other expenditures that are on the rise. ” School maintenance of effort requires that you spend no less money that you did last year. Then the state gives some raises with state money but they also about double the contributions that we must make to retirement. Our workers comp, liability, and all those insurance costs went up as well as the cost of fuel and the health care program.”
Foster says the county has also budgeted small pay raises for county employees, both full time and part time.” They still, on average, make a little less than ten dollars an hour and some of them, the part-timers, make maybe $6.50 an hour.”
A public hearing will be held at 5:30 p.m. followed by the county commission meeting at 6:30 p.m. tonight (Monday) at the courthouse. WJLE will broadcast the meeting LIVE.

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department has made three arrests in two recent home break-ins.
Sheriff Patrick Ray says 23 year old Thomas Jacob Sims of 165 Lakeside Drive, Smithville and 19 year old Jennia Lee Wilson of 1677 Snow Hill Road, Dowelltown are charged in connection with a break-in at a residence on Vandergriff Hollow off Dry Creek Road during the early morning hours of Wednesday, September 20th.
Entry was made through a back door and several items were stolen including a computer, drill, answering machine, candles, personal care items, and a BOSE AM/FM CD radio, valued at over $1,000.
Sheriff Ray says the intruders even cooked a meal and ate before they left.
Sims is charged with aggravated burglary, a first offense of driving on a suspended license, and theft over $1,000.
Wilson is also charged with aggravated burglary and theft over $1,000
Meanwhile, 34 year old Lori Kilgore of 775 Dr. Jennings Road, Rock Island is charged with theft of property over $1,000 and aggravated burglary in a break-in on September 16th at a residence on Blue Springs Road, in which some jewelry was stolen. She will appear in General Sessions Court October 12th.
In another case, 47 year old Tim Cantrell of 463 White Oak Drive was charged last Tuesday with four counts of prescription fraud.
Sheriff Ray says Cantrell allegedly passed a forged prescription for hydrocodone at four local pharmacies between September 4th and 16th. His bond is $10,000 and he will be in court on the charges October 12th.