County OKs court agreement with

Jeremy Nash news-herald.net

Loudon County Commission and Lenoir City Council reached an agreement that will allow criminal court proceedings at the city’s municipal building on U.S. Highway 321.

The memorandum of understanding was unanimously approved by council during its Jan. 13 meeting and Jan. 21 by the county.

An email 9th Judicial District Attorney General Russell Johnson sent to the attorney general’s office in Nashville outlined that Lenoir City’s courtroom was larger and more secure than the modified former city council meeting room in Loudon. The temporary location in Loudon is being used after fire destroyed Loudon County Courthouse in April.

Johnson said Senior Assistant Attorney General Nick Spangler and Chief Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zach Hinkle gave the “proverbial green light” to have criminal court jury trials in Lenoir City.

“It boils down to security is the bottom line on it,” Rollen “Buddy” Bradshaw, county mayor, said. “We’ve got several murder cases coming up and so security — with these murder cases that are coming up, we want to just guarantee safety for everybody involved — the jurors, the prosecution, the defense and the people that are on trial. From a safety and security standpoint that was just the best option.

“We’re certainly grateful for Loudon for what they’ve done, but we also want to thank Lenoir City for stepping up when we needed them to find a better place to hold our hearings,” he added.

Johnson pointed to Tennessee Code Annotated 5-7-105(b), which says a county can hold criminal court, including indictment, prosecution and conviction of criminal defendants, within the county but outside the county seat.

“In researching the matter, it appears that TCA 5-7-105(b) provides some guidance in that it was enacted in 2006 after the repeal of TCA 16-2-106 through 16-2-104 in part (which might affect the fact that the Loudon County Justice Center was built outside the county seat in 1974),” Johnson wrote in the email. “... This same subsection would appear to allow us to hold criminal court in a building not located within the county seat where the county is using said building (presumably as a ‘criminal justice building or facility).’ The Lenoir City City Hall is not a building or a facility constructed as a ‘criminal justice building or facility’ nor is it a building or a facility that the county is using as a ‘criminal justice building or facility.’

“Instead, it is a building purchased from SunTrust Bank by the city of Lenoir City, remodeled as a city hall by the city of Lenoir City and now used by the city of Lenoir City — not Loudon County,” he added.

Johnson said TCA 5-7-105, attorney general opinions 03-060 and 05-155 and the rules and criminal procedures on change of venue have been reviewed.

“Our concern is that most defendants, especially in a murder trial, are not going to voluntarily and affirmatively waive their right to be tried in a courtroom located in the county seat if refusing to wave may provide them some procedural or tactical advantage in their trial or on appeal,” Johnson said.

Van Shaver, county commissioner, agreed the move was for safety.

“More space even because they’ve got to impound jurors, so they just need more space and more security,” Shaver said. “Certainly, Lenoir City’s facility is better suited for that than our temporary location in Loudon.”

Shaver has pushed for the county to construct new courtroom space on the justice center property, which is outside the county seat.

“That’s been the argument thus far to oppose the justice center is, ‘Well, it’s outside the county seat,’ and the city of Loudon would never, ever annex it according to — I mean we’ve never heard that from the city councilmen in Loudon, but we’ve heard that from members of our body,” Shaver said. “Now that that hurdle has pretty much been shot down we can hold criminal court outside the county seat. That certainly makes the justice center location far more possible than what we would have thought previously.”

Bradshaw remains adamant court proceedings will remain in Loudon.

“Just for the simple fact that we got permission, we went through the proper channels here,” he said. “The bottom line is the court proceedings under normal circumstances are being held in the county seat. I think it’s only temporary. I don’t think it’ll spread anything other than (the temporary time).”

He could not determine how long court proceedings would take place in Lenoir City.

“I imagine at least until we can get up and going in the old courthouse,” Bradshaw said. “We certainly don’t want to be a burden on our insurance. Our insurance is not going to pay much past when we do get the old courthouse up and going. So I think once we get it going we can resume business as usual even as we continue to explore the option of another annex.”

Lenoir City Mayor Tony Aikens said the city was willing to help in any way.

“The criminal court judge (Jeff Wicks) contacted me months ago,” Aikens said. “He was just wanting to make sure that he was within the law to do that and we’re happy to help them out and to let them use the courtroom whenever possible or whenever they need it.”