By Scott Brooks

Knox County commissioners are asking the state attorney general to consider a lawsuit forcing law director Bill Lockett from office.

After a 90-minute discussion on the options, commissioners voted 18-1 at their June 22 meeting to ask the state to initiate the civil suit.

“It sends the message that we’re interested in getting things done,” said commissioner Mike Hammond, one of the sponsors of the resolution.

The board has already formally censured Lockett and removed him as its legal representative at a meeting earlier in the month.

Lockett has so far refused to resign after admitting he pocketed more than $30,000 from clients while he worked at a private law firm before he took office in Aug. 2008.

While several commissioners expressed concern that there is enough evidence for a suit, the only vote against the resolution came from commissioner Greg “Lumpy” Lambert.

“We have to ask if the breach of trust issue is enough,” said commissioner Bud Armstrong, who also reminded the board that “the wheels of justice turn slowly.”

Armstrong supported the measure.

The request does not mean the state attorney general will automatically file the ouster suit.

The county’s chief deputy law director Joe Jarret told commissioners the state will investigate the matter and decide if there’s enough evidence of problems in office.

“But it’s infinitely more expeditious” than  a recall vote, he said.

A committee of citizens has organized a recall plan that can begin in Sept. after Lockett has been in office for a year.
The suit could also include an emergency motion to suspend Lockett without pay.

Some commissioners also questioned whether an ouster suit could interfere with ongoing criminal investigations against Lockett.

But Hammond read aloud state statutes that said testimony in ouster proceedings can’t be used in criminal cases. Jarret agreed.

The essence of the action, according to commissioner Dave Wright, is to make sure the board takes every possible action to remove Lockett from office.

“It’s not about criminal acts. It’s about ethics,” he said.

If an ouster suit is not merited according to the attorney general, then commissioners can consider filing an ouster suit of their own as citizens.

“But you would be responsible for the legal bills on your own,” said Jarret.

The resolution also gives Jarret the power to hire outside counsel as needed in any situation where he might be in a conflict of interest.

In other action, commissioners voted against putting out a call for other law firms to represent the county’s Pension Board where Lockett first admitted his actions on May 26.

Lockett’s former firm, Kennerly, Montgomery & Finley, represents that board.

A majority of commissioners said Lockett’s actions do not reflect badly on the firm as a whole.