Sheriff’s Message

We are so blessed in Blount County to live in a supportive community and receive strong backing from our county leaders. Blount County is a great place to live and work because of the high quality of life and a safe environment to work and raise our families. I attribute this in large part to the professional law enforcement officers in Blount County. Our Sheriff’s deputies strive to uphold our mission statement, which in part is to provide law enforcement, corrections, and criminal justice services through a partnership with our community. We not only have a robust community partnership, we have strong cooperation with the other law enforcement and first responder agencies in Blount County. These strong ties not only help us do our jobs more effectively, it helps you, the members of our community. We are all in this together, with the ultimate goal of helping our citizens and safeguarding our community. That makes all of us winners.

The Blount County Sheriff’s Office continues to tackle challenges head-on. Like many law enforcement agencies across the country, we faced staffing issues for many years, but with the backing of the majority of our Blount County Commissioners, pay for our deputies has increased substantially, and we are proud to say that our compensation package is competitive with most of the law enforcement agencies across East Tennessee. My goal is to keep it competitive and not allow our agency to fall behind in terms of salary and compensation. We are attracting and retaining recruits and experienced officers of a high caliber for both patrol and corrections.

It is no secret that the opioid epidemic that has overtaken our nation is firmly in place in Blount County. All of our deputies in every function are forced to deal with the consequences of those addicted to opioids and other harmful drugs. Agents with the Fifth Judicial Drug Task Force continue to focus on keeping drugs like heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine out of the hands of our citizens, but these powerful and dangerous drugs still appeal to some people. It is unfortunate and sad, not a day goes by that one of our citizens does not overdose. Over the years, the number of doses of Naloxone that our deputies administer has more than quadrupled since 2016, our first full year of carrying the lifesaving Naloxone. This is frustrating from a law enforcement perspective, but more importantly, it is difficult to witness good people take this dangerous path. It is my promise to continue to fight this battle for our people.

With that said, there are many good things happening in our agency and in this community. Our economy is in excellent shape and Blount County’s leaders are attracting many great businesses and individuals to open up and move here. Our leaders place a high priority on quality of life for all.

The EMR (Emergency Medical Responder) program that started in 2017 is going strong and has grown. This program was made possible with the support of Blount County Mayor Ed Mitchell. Since our inaugural year, many deputies have invested in themselves, this agency, and our community and have taken the EMR course and successfully passed the certification exam. We currently have 57 EMRs spread across all shifts and functions. The program is a resounding success. Because our deputies are often first on the scene of an incident, our EMRs are able to assist individuals who are in need of medical care until first responders arrive. We are extremely proud of this one-of-a-kind program.

I am proud and grateful that you have allowed me to be the Sheriff of Blount County, and we look forward to serving our citizens in the years to come. Please do not hesitate to call on me if there is anything I can do for you.