Tag: Johnson County

Former Tennessee Judge Accused of Being ‘Drug Kingpin’ Faces 10 Years in Prison After Pleading Guilty to Money Laundering, Marijuana Charges

Tom Pappert
Perry Stout

Former Johnson County General Session Court Judge Perry Stout pleaded guilty to charges related to money laundering and distributing marijuana on Friday in a plea agreement with prosecutors that saw charges dropped related to the weapon he allegedly possessed at the time he committed the crimes, a conspiracy to sell the drugs, and maintaining a home to sell or use drugs.

Stout was reportedly “visibly broken in appearance,” in court on Friday, reported The Tomahawk, which added that he “seemed almost disconnected” from the events unfolding in the court room, “but was very keen to ensure that his family was considered in connection to his plea deal.”

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Kemp Announces $234 Million in Grants to Expand Broadband Access

Eric Burk

Governor Brian Kemp announced $234 million in 29 grants for broadband expansion using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds; the money will go to 12 internet service providers in 28 counties and will be matched with other funds for a total $455 million to support 76,000 locations.

“Georgia is again leading the nation in identifying where the digital divide is the deepest and acting on that knowledge to improve service for hardworking people all the way from Seminole County to Gordon County and beyond,” Kemp said in a Wednesday press release.

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North Carolina Woman Charged with TennCare Fraud

Chris Butler

  Authorities have charged yet another out-of-state resident with TennCare fraud, and this time the alleged culprit is from North Carolina. According to a press release, officials with the Tennessee Office of Inspector General this week announced the arrest of Julie Carpenter of Mitchell County, North Carolina. The arrest is the result of a joint effort with the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office of North Carolina.  Authorities transported her to the sheriff’s office of Johnson County, Tenn. where they have her housed, according to a press release. Carpenter is charged with one count of obtaining benefits through TennCare despite not qualifying for the program and one count of theft of services over $10,000, the press release went on to say. “Investigators say Carpenter reported that she had custody of her son when in fact the paternal grandparents of the child had court-ordered custody elsewhere,” according to the press release. “Additionally, it was discovered that Ms. Carpenter was not a resident of Tennessee and was in fact residing in Mitchell County, North Carolina.  Carpenter continued to report this status to TennCare over a period of approximately a year and a half.  Had Carpenter properly reported her household composition or out of state residency,…

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Audit: Controversial Greenbelt Program Misused in Johnson County

Chris Butler

A controversial tax break program, known as Greenbelt, reportedly known to help the wealthy but hurt people of more modest incomes, is the subject of an audit Tennessee Comptrollers released Thursday. State officials enacted Greenbelt laws to help Tennesseans hold on to their farms. The Greenbelt tax breaks kick in for property owners who maintain at least 15 acres of farmland, forests or open spaces. But these tax breaks are also known to hurt other people. According to the new audit, out of Johnson County, certain people who bought properties that already qualified for Greenbelt did not have to file new applications to continue that status — as Tennessee law requires. “In 38 of 110 (34%) of the parcels tested, the assessor did not require new owners of property that had been previously qualified as agricultural, forest, or designated open space at the date of sale to file a new application in a timely manner to continue the agricultural (Greenbelt) classification,” according to auditors. County assessors, auditors went on to say, must notify new owners of these properties that they cannot receive Greenbelt status unless they file an application “within 30 days of such notification together with a late fee of…

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Audit: Johnson County School Officials Used Resources for Personal Gain

Chris Butler

Johnson County School System employees used taxpayer-funded resources no one else had to benefit themselves, according to an audit the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office released Wednesday. “Management allowed employees at the school department’s transportation garage to use the facility to work on their personal vehicles and other vehicles for personal gain,” Comptrollers wrote in the audit. “Based on interviews with department employees, we determined that the employees performed maintenance on their vehicles after normal working hours with parts and supplies purportedly purchased with their personal funds. In addition, school department employees informed us that management allowed them to use school department vehicles, machinery, and tools for personal use.” Former and current department employees, the audit went on to say, admitted to using department-owned lawnmowers and tools for personal use. “In one instance during normal working hours, a school transportation supervisor had a school department employee deliver a load of old shingles from the supervisor’s home to the county transfer station using a department-owned dump truck,” Comptrollers wrote. “The supervisor borrowed the department’s dump truck over the weekend for personal use while having his home roof repaired. The supervisor stated the employee needed the dump truck the following Monday morning to retrieve…

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The Would-Be ‘State of Franklin’ That Never Officially Existed

Gregory Watson

The United States Constitution does, of course, contain guidelines as to how a territory may enter the Union as a full-fledged state on an equal footing with all previously-existing states.  The last time that any new states were added to the United States was in the year 1959 when Alaska became the nation’s 49th state and Hawaii became the country’s 50th state. Specifically, the U.S. Constitution’s Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 — which requires only a simple majority vote — reads: “New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.” There has been recent chatter about admitting Puerto Rico into the Union as the nation’s 51st state. As the Constitution was not written until 1787 — and, once written, did not take effect until the following year — the procedure outlined within the still-in-force Articles of Confederation would have remained applicable to admission of news states up to…

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