Knox County Fiscal Court approves vehicle and invoice purchases; proposed sheriff Tahoe trade draws objection

At a special meeting of the Knox County Fiscal Court on April 24, 2026, the court approved several equipment purchases and routine invoices and then adjourned.

The chair opened the 10 a.m. session and led roll call and procedural business. The court approved the minutes from the April 20 regular meeting after a motion and second.

The court considered a resolution to use LGA funds to purchase a Chevrolet Tahoe for the sheriff, with the county taking trade-ins of existing sheriff vehicles. A committee member moved the measure and another seconded; during discussion, one committee member opposed the purchase, arguing the county could replace the Tahoe’s transmission rather than buy a replacement. “I think that we needed to buy the, jailer 2 vehicles because of where that we're having some, many cost on the, repairs that we're we're paying anywhere between 800 to $1,000 a month in repairs … I think the Tahoe could have just put a new transmission in it,” the committee member said. The transcript does not record a clear final announcement of the vote outcome for this specific resolution.

Separately, the court approved a resolution to purchase a Ford Explorer with single-county funds; the chair read an invoice figure of about $23,000. The motion to approve the Explorer carried with two ayes and one opposed.

The court also approved additional invoices tied to the county’s buyout program. The chair recited a total figure for buyout payments of about $370,816 and read vendor line items and invoice numbers into the record, including a listed vendor “Mountain Enterprise” and smaller payments noted as D and D service ($37.50) and Cameron’s Lawn Care ($1.50). A committee member moved to approve the invoices, another seconded, and the court voted to approve the payments.

With no further business, a committee member moved to adjourn; the motion was seconded and the court adjourned.

Actions at the meeting were procedural and financial: approval of minutes, consideration of vehicle purchases, approval of buyout-program invoices, and adjournment. The debate that drew the most substantive comment was whether the county should buy a replacement sheriff vehicle or repair the existing Tahoe; the transcript captures the opposition’s cost and warranty argument but does not record a response on whether the transmission repair option was formally adopted or rejected.