Updated 10/22/19

Giles County Commissioners voted during the monthly meeting to send a recent email they received from CTAS attorney's concerning appointing Chris Williams as a county attorney back to the Legislative Committee.

The appointment of a county attorney was not on the Commissions agenda , but was moved from the table during the full county commission meeting Monday after receiving email from CTAS attorneys with answers.

Several commissioners spoke stating they had opened a can of worms and needed to fix it.

On the September agenda, electing a county attorney was on the list of items, but was sent to the Legislative Committee after an opinion from the University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service was presented indicating a conflict of interest exists because County Commissioner Terry Harwell’s wife is an employee of the law firm owned by current County Attorney Chris Williams.

During last month’s meeting, it was read CTAS opinion states, “members of the county legislative body cannot be financially interested or have any personal beneficial interest, either directly or indirectly, in contractual services for the county. Because the commissioner’s spouse is an employee of the law firm, the commissioner would be financially interested in a contract between the county and the law firm.”

At a recent Legislative Committee meeting, Williams made it clear the CTAS opinion does not state he has a conflict of interest.

Williams explained that the county attorney is elected by the county commission and the position is neither an employee of the county or a contracted service.

The email each commissioner received from CTAS was after Williams asked a representative with CTAS to take his information back to their attorneys who issued the initial opinion prior to the September commission meeting and determine if, under the circumstances in Giles County, the conflict of interest laws are triggered.

The recent CTAS email was not read out loud during the meeting.

Williams prompted extensive discussion among county commissioners at the latest Legislative Committee meeting concerning conflict of interest and how it affects the way the county does, or does not, do business with local companies.