When Justin Biggs was bounced in his bid for reelection as Knox County trustee, the friends he hired and paid generously followed him out the door.
Biggs became the first countywide elected official this century to lose reelection after Tyler Whetstone and I revealed he had misused taxpayer dollars on luxury trucks and hotel stays, and inflated his office’s payroll by almost $400,000 to bring on people he had personal ties to.
Who did Biggs hire? Back in 2025, I reported Biggs hired five new staffers with whom he had personal ties: Jason Dobbins (who Biggs fired after I asked him about the hotel stays and trucks), Brian Hornback, Kenneth Johnston, Jackie Raley, Tanner Raley and Monica Shingles. He also hired staffers Brady Elliott, Dedra Klotzbach, Tiffaney Lawson, Gregory McPhetridge, Jasmine Smith and Jarvis Reado…