Former Smithville Police Chief Randy Caplinger is taking his case against the City of Smithville to court.
Caplinger’s attorneys Sarah Cripps and Brandon Cox filed a lawsuit in DeKalb County Circuit Court on Thursday, June 4.
(CLICK PDF LINK BELOW TO READ THE ACTUAL LAWSUIT)
caplinger complaint and _001.pdf (3.22 MB)
“We are seeking to have Chief Caplinger restored to his rightful position as chief. We are also asserting that he is entitled to receive all accrued back pay and every other benefit to which he would be entitled had this unlawful suspension and termination never occurred,” said Cripps in an interview with WJLE Thursday.
In the lawsuit, Cripps and Cox are asking for a declaratory judgment “to construe the charter for the City of Smithville and to determine which provision controls and governs the number of votes required by the Board of Aldermen to ratify or confirm the mayor’s decision to remove an employee of the city”. Cripps and Cox are also urging the court to find that the Board of Aldermen violated a section of the charter by not convening a meeting to ratify the mayor’s suspension of Caplinger without pay prior to the due process hearing. They are further asking that the court “hold and declare that Caplinger’s suspension without pay effective March 13, 2015 is invalid, and hence, a nullity” and that Caplinger be allowed to “receive all accrued back pay from March 13, 2015 until the date of the hearing in this cause”.
After a seven hour due process hearing Friday, May 8 the Smithville Aldermen voted 3-2 to uphold Mayor Jimmy Poss’ termination of Caplinger. Aldermen Gayla Hendrix, Danny Washer, and Jason Murphy voted in favor of the mayor’s action. Aldermen Shawn Jacobs and Josh Miller voted against it.
But the vote itself became an issue and is one of the key components of the lawsuit.
Cripps and Cox insist that the city’s charter requires a two thirds majority vote (four out of five) to confirm a mayoral termination. And Aldermen Jacobs and Miller said at the due process hearing that they had spoken with legal representatives of the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) who told them that according to the city’s charter, four votes were required to approve the action of the mayor.
Article III of the Smithville City Charter regarding Organization and Personnel. Section 3.01, subsection (2) states that “All officers and employees of the city, except as otherwise specifically provided by ordinance, shall be appointed and removed by the Mayor but only with the approval of at least two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of the Council present voting upon the appointment or removal, and the employees shall be under the direction and control of the Mayor.”
But during the due process hearing City Attorney Vester Parsley cited another section in the charter, which seems to conflict with Section 3.01 in that it allows for only ” a majority of the board” to approve removal of employees by the mayor. Parsley recommended that the aldermen follow this section of the charter.
The section of the charter to which Parsley referred is Section 3.08 in Article III which states that “The appointment and promotion of employees of the city shall be on a basis of merit, considering technical knowledge and education required to perform satisfactorily the work, experience in the particular or similar line of work and administrative or supervisory qualifications. The Mayor, or the City Administrator, if established by the Board, may, with the approval of a majority of the Board, make appointments, promotions, transfers, demotions, suspensions, and removal of all employees”.
In the lawsuit, Cripps and Cox are asking the court to preserve both sections of the charter but to find that Section 3.01 (requiring a 2/3 super majority vote) controls because it is more specific than Section 3.08. “Essentially what we are asking the court to do here is to tell us what provision of the city charter controls the removal of officers or employees of the City of Smithville, such as Chief Randy Caplinger. We contend that Section 3.01, subsection (2) controls. We have two statutes that appear to be in contradiction to one another. What we’re asking the court to do is construe both of those statues in such a way that both of them can remain standing. In other words, the scope of Section 3.01, subsection (2) is very narrow. It deals with the ultimate employment actions that anyone can take which is appointment and removal. For those ultimate employment decisions that can be made by the mayor that section tells us that those must be approved by a super majority vote by the board. Section 3.08 is much broader and more general in its scope. It is much more far reaching in that it controls appointments, suspensions, demotions, promotions, and lateral transfers from one department to another. Furthermore it differs from the prior section (3.01) in that it says these decisions can be made unilaterally by the mayor or city administrator. The third way this section (3.08) differs is that it says these decisions must be ratified only by a simple majority of the board. What we say is both of those sections can stand if the court holds that the more specific statute controls. To hold that the general statute controls would result in a complete nullification of the entirety of 3.01, subsection 2 so we wouldn’t be allowing both sections to stand. We are saying that applying that concept of statutory interpretation the more specific statute controls (3.01),” said Cripps.
Cripps and Cox also contend that the aldermen violated section 3.08 of the charter in that they failed to convene for a vote to ratify the mayor’s unilateral suspension of Caplinger prior to the due process hearing. “We are saying that Chief Caplinger’s employer, being the City of Smithville violated the provisions of the city’s own charter in that they violated Section 3.08. How did they do that? Well on March 13 the mayor suspended Chief Caplinger and the Board, as required by Section 3.08 is supposed to convene a meeting and call for a vote on the question of whether or not to ratify the suspension of an officer or employee. The Board failed to abide by its own city charter. We contend therefore that this renders the suspension of Chief Caplinger a nullity and it renders it invalid,” said Cripps.
“The final facet of our suit deals with a petition for other relief where we are seeking to have Chief Caplinger restored to his rightful position as chief. We are also asserting that he is entitled to receive all accrued back pay and every other benefit to which he would be entitled had this unlawful suspension and termination never occurred,” Cripps concluded.
The City has not named a successor to Caplinger and Captain Steven Leffew remains as the “officer in charge” of the department.

Interim Director of Schools Dr. Danielle Collins has signed contracts with the Professional Personnel for the 2015-2016 school year.
Dr. Collins presented a list of the employees to the Board of Education Thursday night.
Certified personnel at each school are as follows:
DeKalb County High School-
Angie Anderson, Charlotte Blaylock, Danny Bond, Amanda Brown, Kathy Bryant, Chelsea Burch, Kevin Burchfield, Kelley Burgess, Jeanine Cantrell, Todd Cantrell, Gary Caplinger, Mary Anne Carpenter, Andrew Cook, Joe Pat Cope, Carla Crabtree, Lisa Craig, Patrick Cripps, Bethany Davis, Deborah DePriest, Andrew Dixon, Brittany Dixon, Donna Emmons, Marshall Ferrell, Tina Fletcher, Amanda Fuller, David Gash, Josh Gulley, Sara Halliburton, Susan Hinton, Sonja House, William Jennings, Natasha Judkins, Dylan Kleparek, Brad Leach, Lynus Martin, Martisha Maxwell, Taylor McDaniel, Rebecca Miller, Lori Myrick, Rolando Navarro, Jenny Norris, Scott Odom, Nallely Ortega-Prater, Shelly Painter, Walteen Parker, Linda Parris, Leslie Parsley, John Pryor, Mary Anne Puckett, Jane Rice, Marilyn Roberts, Melissa Ruch, Derek Schatz, Daniel Seber, Michael Shaw, Tracy Slone, Steve Trapp, Chris Vance, Michael Whitefield, Shea Wiegele, and Sara Young.
Northside Elementary School-
January Agee, Marla Beshearse, Kelly Birmingham, Mollie Bratten, Linda Bush, Shanea Cantrell, Megan Carroll, Trent Colwell, Michael Crockett, Alisha Day, Ashley Dean, Tabitha Farmer, Danny Fish, Jerry Foster, Carrie Gottlied, Amy Green, Amanda Griffith, Jennifer Griffith, Melissa Hale, Cynthia Hale, Jessica Hale, Patty Hale, Kirsten Hankal, Jennifer Herndon, Greg Hibdon, Lorie Isabell, Karen Jacobs, Shelly Jennings, Kristy Lasser, Lisa Mabe, Jama Martin, Amanda Mathis, Libby McCormick, Elizabeth Nolt, Josh Odom, Beth Pafford, Deb Poteete, Amy Raymond, Dr. Gayle Redmon, Ashley Reeves, Melissa Roysdon, Carol Sampley, Tammy Sims, Julie Styer, Carol Tripp, Kristen Van Vranken, Betsye Walker, Ginger Wenger, and Sandy Willingham.
DeKalb West School-
Joey Agee, Jessica Antoniak, Doris Cantrell, Jenny Cantrell, Jeanna Caplinger, William Conger, Kim Crook, Martha Damron, Tonya Ellis, Janet England, Sabrina Farler, Karen France, Ricky Hendrix, Cathleen Humphrey, Regina Kent, Nadina Manganiello, Shelia McMillen, Diana Moon, Amanda Mullinax, Tammy Payne, Brenda Pedigo (part-time), Cynthia Preston, Lori Pryor, Cynthia Pulley, Kelly Pyburn, Jennifer Shores, Teresa Sullivan, Shelia Vanatta, Natasha Vaughn, Susan West, Vicki Wilson, and Amy Young.
Smithville Elementary School-
Misty Agee, Ashley Barnes, Renee Beaty, Kelly Birmingham, Lindsey Bouldin, Whitney Brelje, Beth Cantrell, Alyssa Conger, Tiffany Cowart, Vicky Duke, Melba Farmer, Tina Gash, Sydney Gremmels, Vicky Hawker, Bradley Hendrix, Holly Hendrix, Mary Henny, Tanya Howard, Kelly Huling, Ana Jarvis, Amanda Johnson, Angela Johnson, Jennifer Judkins, Karen Knowles, Carrie Lee, Leah Magness, Kristen Malone, Adrienne McCormick, LeVaughnda Midgett, Hannah Mummert, Lisa Neal, Macy Nokes, Allison O’Conner, Susan Palmer, Joy Parker, Layra Parker, Jane Ramsey, Amanda Rhoady, Allison Rigsby, Bethany Rigsby, Heather Shehane, Jessica Styer, Carol Tallent, Ashlee Thomason, Janet Trapp, Carol Tripp, Julie Vincent, Sherian Waggoner, Tiffany Wheatley, Kristy Williams, Janet Woodward, Christie Young, and Crystal Young.
DeKalb Middle School-
Josh Agee, Lori Alexander, Suzette Barnes, Cassandra Binkley, Amee Cantrell, Nancy Cowan, Margaret Coyle, Amanda Dakas, Tena Davidson, Courtney Davis, Jenny Elrod, Holly Espinosa, Amy Farler, Jason Farley, Suzanne Gash, Lesa Hayes, Lori Hendrix, Cecilia Jenkins, Randy Jennings, Bryan Jones, Michelle Jones, Amy Key, Natalie Kintz, Michael Lewis, Michael Littrell, Martha Melching, Debra Moore, Justin Nokes, Emily Phillips, Justin Poteete, Anita Puckett, Cody Randolph, Candice Scrabo, Penny Smitty, Tonya Sullivan, Kitty Thomas, Felicia Warden, Tad Webb, Jennifer West, Rebecca Whimpey, Kathryn Wisinger, and Alicia Wittenberg.
Central Office Staff-
Gina Arnold, Katherine Ballard, Lisa Bell, Michelle Burklow, Dr. Danielle Collins, Lisa Cripps, Amy Fox, Amy Lattimore, Joey Reeder, Dee Anna Reynolds, and Lori Rogers.
Meanwhile, the Board of Education voted to grant a professional license to the following teachers upon the recommendation of Interim Director of Schools Dr. Danielle Collins:
Molllie H. Bratten, Megan Carroll, Bethany Davis, Amy Key, Mary Ann Puckett, Julie Styer, Sara Young, Kelley Burgess, Trent Colwell, Suzanne Gash, Diana Moon, Michael Shaw, Ashlee Thomason, Amee Cantrell, Gary Caplinger, Sara L. Halliburton, Joshua Odom, Heather Shehane, and Jalene Vanatta.
According to Dr. Collins, these teachers have successfully completed the statutory apprentice period of three years as required for license advancement. “It is my recommendation that these teachers be recommended for professional license,” wrote Dr. Collins
Meanwhile, those who have resigned or retired since last month are as follows:
Mike Eaton, resigned, maintenance worker
Carl Malone, retired, custodian, DCHS
Dorothy Colvert, resigned, teacher, Northside Elementary School
Sharon Washer, retired, cook, Northside Elementary School
Susan Palmer, retired, teacher, Smithville Elementary School
Hannah Mummert, resigned, teacher, Smithville Elementary School
Tara Smith, resigned, County-Wide
Dan Hooper, resigned, teacher, Northside Elementary School

A memorial service for 23 month old Colten Alexander May featuring a candlelight vigil and balloon release is set for Saturday, June 6 at 6:00 p.m. at Evins Park across from the Post Office downtown Smithville.
The program is being held in remembrance of the child who died last month and to promote child abuse awareness. Jennifer Wilkerson, Executive Director of the Upper Cumberland Child Advocacy Center will be the guest speaker. Chris Moore of the Smithville Church of God will serve as moderator. LIVE music will also be part of the program.
Dana Poss, organizer of the event, urges everyone to attend to show support for this effort. More white tapered candles are needed. If you would like to make a donation of candles call Dana at 615-597-4745 extension 4 at city hall. Attendees are also asked to wear blue shirts in recognition of child abuse awareness

After a busy election year in 2014, DeKalb County voters get a break this year except in Alexandria where town leaders will be chosen in September. But the campaign season will gear up again in 2016 with a Presidential election along with several local races.
In DeKalb County, the Assessor of Property Office and all seven constable positions will be up for election. The incumbents are Assessor Scott Cantrell and Constables Chad Curtis in the first district, Chris Tramel in the second district, Travis Bryant in the third district, Paul Cantrell in the fourth district, Mark Milam in the fifth district, Carl Lee Webb in the sixth district, and Johnny King in the seventh district.
Party nominees and any Independents for the offices of Assessor of Property and Constable will be on the August 2016 General Election Ballot along with school board candidates in the fifth and sixth district as well as in the fourth district (to fill the remaining two years of an unexpired term). All terms are for four years. Those school board seats are currently held by W.J. (Dub) Evins, III in the fifth district, Doug Stephens in the sixth district, and Kate Miller in the fourth district (appointed to fill two years of her husband Billy Miller’s unexpired term).
The Smithville, Liberty, and Dowelltown Municipal elections will also be held in August 2016. Again, all terms are for four years.
In Smithville, voters will elect three aldermen. The incumbents up for re-election are Shawn Jacobs, Josh Miller, and Danny Washer.
A mayor and two aldermen will be elected in Dowelltown. The positions are currently held by Mayor Gerald Bailiff and Aldermen Joe Bogle and Kevin Kent.
Liberty voters will choose four aldermen. Three of them to serve four years and the fourth to fill the remaining one year of an unexpired term. The three positions up for election to new four year terms are now held by Jason Ray, Paul Neal, and Todd Dodd. The person elected to the fourth seat will serve the last year of an unexpired term. J.D. Bratten currently holds that position.
In this year’s Alexandria election, three aldermen are to be elected, each to serve a four year term. Meanwhile, a mayor and two other aldermen are to be elected to fill vacancies or the remaining two years of unexpired terms. The sitting members are Mayor Tony Tarpley and Aldermen Pat Jackson, David Cripps, John Suggs, and Bennett Armstrong. All are serving as appointees except for Jackson, who was elected in 2013 and still has two years remaining in his term.

Tennessee’s annual Free Fishing Day is Saturday, June 6 when anyone may fish free without a license in the state’s public waters.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency provides the free day in hopes of increasing interest in fishing. The day allows anyone the opportunity to try this great outdoor sport, especially children. In addition, children ages 15 and younger may fish without a license beginning on Free Fishing Day through the following Friday (June 12).
Meanwhile, the annual Pea Ridge Kids Fishing Rodeo will be held at the big pond in the Pea Ridge Wildlife Management Area on Saturday, June 6 from 7:00 a.m. until noon. Kids through age fifteen may participate. Lunch, soft drinks, and prizes will be available for the kids.
The day and week are annual events in Tennessee and are great opportunities to introduce children to the enjoyment and excitement of a day on the water catching fish. The TWRA is among several organizations planning special fishing events, primarily for youngsters. The TWRA annually stocks several thousand pounds of fish for various events.
Free Fishing Day and Week apply to Tennessee’s public waters, TWRA owned and operated lakes, and state park facilities. Some privately owned pay lakes continue to charge during this special day and week. Anglers may consult with lake operators if there are any questions about a particular facility

Although the Mayor and Aldermen have not yet held their first budget discussions for the 2015-16 fiscal year, the City Administrator and Smithville’s financial consultant have been at work.
“We’re not looking at any property tax increase this year and no water rate increase for city residents,” said City Administrator Hunter Hendrixson during Monday night’s regular monthly meeting of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen.
“Janice Plemmons-Jackson (City Financial Consultant) and I have been working on the budget. We’re about 85% complete with it as far as the day to day operations and line items. The only thing left is any type of pay wage increase and any capital outlay projects for this coming budget year,” Hendrixson told the mayor and aldermen.
“I think we can have you a rough draft (proposed budget) by the end of the week. That way you will have time to look over it. I am still waiting on a couple of departmental heads to get me their wish list. I’ll send that to you with the costs and what they are looking for. I can send it electronically. If you want to set up a budget workshop or we could open up the meeting and have a workshop/ meeting where you can vote on the budget if you choose to that same night,” Hendrixson continued.
While the state wants the city to have a new budget approved by July 1, Hendrixson said a continuing resolution could be adopted until final passage if the aldermen don’t meet the deadline. “The state requires you to pass a budget by July 1 of each year. If you don’t you’re required to pass a continuing budget resolution. We’ve had to do that once before. I think it was in 2010. It’s not the end of the world or anything but we prefer to have one passed by July 1 if at all possible,” said Hendrixson.
The mayor and aldermen Monday night set a budget workshop/special meeting for Tuesday, June 16 at 4:00 p.m. at city hall. “Once you pass it on first reading you can always tweak it. You can’t pass it no less than seven days from the first reading. You would be looking at no less than June 23 before we could have another meeting. We’ll see what the departmental heads request. We’ll meet on June 16 and go from there,” Hendrixson concluded.

Cookeville Boat Dock is asking a judge to reconsider a recent ruling that it must pay over $200,000 in DeKalb County property taxes, interest and penalties.
The boat dock has refused to pay the taxes since 1998 and Judge Amy Hollers ruled in April that the dock’s challenge to the tax was invalid.
The boat dock’s attorney now argues the county cannot collect taxes beyond 10 years; that the judge’s ruling on the “Supremacy Clause” of the U.S. Constitution was incorrect; and that the amount of interest the county wants to charge is above what is allowed by law.
In the motion for “additional consideration of issues,” attorney Jon Jones points to a Tennessee law that states, “All taxes assessed against real property and personal property in this state shall be barred, discharged and uncollectible after the lapse of 10 years from April 1 of the year following the year in which such taxes become delinquent, whether suit be brought within that time or not to collect the taxes…”
As for the interest issue, the defendants argue “prejudgment interest may be awarded by courts or juries in accordance with the principles of equity at any rate not in excess of a maximum effective rate of 10 percent per annum.”
The motion states that the county “has not provided a breakdown regarding its proposed computation of prejudgment interest. However, defendant (boat dock) expects the county will claim prejudgment interest at a rate of 18 percent per annum. This exceeds the maximum rate of prejudgment interest this court is allowed to award.”
The defendant goes on to suggest the interest rate “should correspond with the interest rate DeKalb County has paid during the relevant time.” Showing documentation the county borrowed money or issued bonds in recent years at rates varying from one to 5.5 percent, the defendant claims “these rates should provide the upper limit on an award of prejudgment interest that the court may make in this case.”
In relation to the “Supremacy Clause,” the defendant asks the court “to reconsider its opinion in this regard.”
Initially the defendant had claimed a section of Tennessee law violated the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution by discriminating against a lessee of the United States in favor of lessees of the State of Tennessee. It was argued since the boat dock pays fees to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers which are used, in part, to pay DeKalb County a sum of “in lieu of taxes,” that having to pay property tax to the county was, in effect, double taxation.
Judge Hollers ruled last month the Supremacy Claus “does not prevent a state or local government from imposing a tax on an individual or a corporation ‘using government property in connection with a business conducted for its own private gain.’” The defendant now claims “the court ‘short circuited’ the issue of whether” the state law “is reconcilable with the Supremacy Clause.”

Plans are in the making for the construction of a taxiway at the Smithville Municipal Airport.
The Aldermen Monday night approved a request by Airport Manager Wes Nokes to apply for another aeronautics grant through the Tennessee Department of Transportation to acquire property adjacent to the airport for the project. If approved, the grant would be 95% funded. The city’s matching portion would only be five percent or around $6,600.
“I have just come here tonight to ask your permission to apply for a grant for property purchase for the airport. This will serve in allowing us to build our full length parallel taxiway. It’s between six and seven acres total. It basically amounts to a long narrow strip and moving a fence in order to meet our safety distances. The total cost for this project is going to be between $135,000 and $140,000. The variation would be for appraisals and that sort of thing. It will cost the city five percent which will be around $6,600,” said Nokes.
“The FAA has mentioned for several years that the biggest safety issue we have is that we don’t have a taxiway. Currently, when our planes depart they have to pull out onto the runway and taxi down the runway to either end. There is always a risk of somebody not seeing you and then coming in and landing and hitting you head on. This will prepare us to build that parallel taxiway. This is the first step in meeting that by acquiring this property,” he said.
“We’re at the point now where the FAA wants us to fix this major safety issue before they give us any more money (grants) in the future for revenue producing projects, such as building T-hangars and that sort of thing. They have been very generous over the last few years in giving us as much money as they have but they have reached a point where they’re saying we’ve got to take care of our housekeeping before we give you anything else to make money with, “added Nokes.

The Smithville Police Department is officially offering Chaplain services.
During Monday night’s monthly meeting, the Smithville Aldermen approved Captain Steven Leffew’s request to have local minister Dwayne Cornelius serve as Chaplain for the police department to provide spiritual and emotional support for members of the department as well as families affected by serious crimes or other tragic events. The Chaplain, serving on a volunteer basis without pay, will be available for guidance and counseling. The city will fund his training and provide the attire he will wear in the role as Chaplain to better identify himself to the public.
Cornelius, pastor of the New Life United Pentecostal Church, who has agreed to take on the duties will not promote any particular religious faith in his role as Chaplain. His counseling is to be non-denominational.
Captain Leffew said that while the Chaplain service is officially new to the police department, Cornelius has already been acting as Chaplain in an unofficial capacity for the last few years. “Pastor Cornelius has pretty much been playing the role of the Police Chaplain unofficially and he has done a tremendous job. We’re really proud to have Dwayne a part of the police department family. He is heavily involved with the police department. He actually opens our department meetings now with prayer,” said Captain Leffew.
“The Chaplain services would be volunteer. The only thing I would request would be that the Police Chaplain proper specialized training for Police Chaplains. I would also like for the Police Chaplain to be properly identified if he is called to the scene for his help. Maybe some nice dress shirts, may be embroidered to identify him,” added Captain Leffew.
According to Captain Leffew, the duties of the Police Chaplain may include, but not be limited to:
*Accompanying a police officer to assist with notification of any suicide death or serious injury
* Offering prayers, assistance and spiritual support for families or victims of any tragic event.
* Working with police officers to assist in any kind of crisis situation where the presence of a trained Chaplain might help.
* Counseling police department members that may be in stress or may have experienced a traumatic event. Any such assistance shall be privileged and confidential between the officer involved and the Chaplain.
*Visiting with sick or injured
*Offering prayers at special occasions
*Assisting the police department in the performance of appropriate ceremonial functions
*Serve as a liaison between the police department and the community in all matters of religious welfare
*The Police Chaplain shall be on call at all times. Any police officer may utilize or call out the Police Chaplain based on officer’s discretion.