Actually, Ms. Niles has resigned to take a more lucrative, non elected position within county government. Ms. Niles will be taking the Loudon County Clerk and Master position. This position is appointed by the judge/Chancellor of Chancery Court. The Clerk and Master position has been held for 31 years by Fred Chaney. Mr. Chaney recently submitted his resignation to the judge. Both Niles resignation from her present job and Chaney's resignation are effective November 30. Ms Niles will assume the Clerk and Master position as of December 1.

Judge Frank Williams is the Judge of the Chancery Court. Williams was the judge of record for the Niles lawsuit against the tax payers. Chancellor Williams sent a letter recusing himself from any further involvement in the Niles lawsuit citing a conflict of interest since Ms. Niles will now be working for him.

Most have probably never heard of or know what a Clerk And Master is, see below.

Clerk and Master: The clerk acts as the principal administrative aide to the Chancery Court and provides assistance in the areas of courtroom administration and records management, docket maintenance, revenue management, maintenance of court minutes, official communication, and various other court-associated duties (Tennessee Constitution Annotated 18-1-105, 18-2-101 et seq. and 18-5-102 et seq.). The clerk is appointed by a majority of the chancellors for a six-year term. 

The duties of a clerk are almost exclusively clerical; and this office's powers are strictly defined by law and the orders of the court. The clerk exercises no judicial functions and has but little discretion. The master, on the contrary, is a judicial officer and is clothed with many powers of the chancellor himself ("Gibson’s Suits in Chancery, 5th Edition," Gibson 1955, Chapter LXVI, sec. 1222).

It will be the county commission's job to appoint a replacement for Ms. Niles position. Hopefully, commission can move quickly to make the appointment which will only be temporary. The appointment will be till the next county general election in 2020.

The person appointed will be able to dismiss Niles lawsuit and things could go back to normal. I think that will be an important issue for commission when considering Niles replacement.

Click Here For:

Niles Resignation Letter

Chancellor's Letter To Hire Niles

Chancellor's Letter Of Recusal