The indictment of Knox County’s property assessor for official misconduct demonstrates the need for stricter policies of use of official vehicles. (Photo of Old Knox County Courthouse: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
Knox County Property Assessor Phil Ballard faces one count of official misconduct for, in the words of the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, improperly using a “county vehicle approximately 150 times while receiving a $7,600 annual travel allowance and repaid $2,776.95 after the improper use was discovered.”
Ballard, who has served several non-sequential terms as assessor beginning in 2008, and I started together as Knox County commissioners in 2006. In fact, we traveled together, along with fellow new Commissioner Greg Lambert, to training sessions in Nashville for newly-elected county officers…