Taylor, commissioners speak on Hamilton County Attorney future

Janie Parks Varnell, Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp’s nominee for Hamilton County Attorney, speaking to the Hamilton County Commission Wednesday.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- Hamilton County Commissioners discussed the future of the county attorney position Wednesday.

This comes after years of back and forth between Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp and county attorney Rheubin Taylor.

At the heart of the discussion over the future over the Hamilton County Attorney position, was how the process of selecting the next attorney was being conducted.

This, as Attorney Taylor voiced his own concerns about the transition plan.

Mayor Wamp announced Monday that he was appointing local attorney Janie Parks Varnell to take over for Taylor when his contract expires at the end of June 2025.

He said that the reason he wanted to go ahead and get Varnell approved by the Commission was to begin a six month transition process from Taylor to Varnell.

One of the resolutions presented to the Commission addresses that transition, while a second resolution would give the opportunity to Taylor to serve as contract counsel for the county through the end of 2025.

However, Attorney Taylor broke his silence that decision by saying that, “I will tell you that the resolution that is presented, the two resolutions in front of you, is in violation of our contract, and ethically I don’t think I should say any more. I want to put that on the record.”

He went to address that, “I did not ask to have my contract extended. I was approached by several members of this commission and asked would I consent to have my contract extended and I said I would if that was the will of this body. That appears not to be the will of this body, I am fine with that.”

Mayor Wamp had previously attempted to replace Taylor when he took office in 2022.

That attempt was denied by a judge, but that ruling affirmed his right to pick a new attorney once Taylor’s contract expires at the end of June.

Mayor Wamp reflected on the whole situation by stating, “I have gone about it imperfectly but the best way I knew how, and I felt better about the process that we were pursuing because of the extraordinary qualifications of our appointee.”

All commissioners were offered an opportunity to talk with Varnell last Friday in private one on one meetings.

Some of them avoided the meeting.

Commission Chairman Jeff Eversole said, “When you ask commissioners to come to a closed room, I did not go. I elected not to go because the potential of a Sunshine Law violation was there.”

He went to say that the assertion that a commissioner had leaked that the private meetings were taking place were “unlikely”.

Three of the commissioners, including Joe Graham, went to the meetings.

They say no violations occurred as Graham insisted, “There was never another elected official in the room. Now there were other elected officials waiting outside of the room to meet with her, but there was never a violation of the Sunshine Law.”

The legal question that commissioners are dealing with now surrounds Taylor’s statement that his contract would be violated if this transition plan is approved.

This could prompt another round of litigation.

Commissioner Warren Mackey stated after Taylor’s announcement that, “I think we just heard a legal statement that we need more information on.”

Chairman Eversole said he was retaining counsel for the Commission, which the body did previously in 2022 during the initial attempt to remove Taylor.

Attorney Taylor said he isn’t looking to sue again, yet.

Taylor said, “I raised a legal issue, so I just want to make sure that the record is that there is no threat of litigation at this point in time.”

Commissioners also got to ask Varnell some questions about her approach to the office.

One question she was asked was on if she planned to keep current county attorney staff, after some commissioners raised concerns about their job status.

She reassured commissioners she intends to keep staff that want to stay on.

The Commission is set to vote on whether to approve Varnell as the next attorney next Wednesday.