County Building Permit Program up for Consideration by Commission

March 29, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

The county commission may make a move Monday night toward establishing a building permit system through which the county could collect fees on inspections of new construction rather than the state.

The issue is on the agenda for discussion and possible action based on a recommendation of the county revenue committee. The meeting will be Monday, March 31 at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the county complex.

According to committee chairman Larry Green, who gave a report to the county commission in a workshop last Monday night, builders currently obtain their permits online through the state and the state gets all the revenue from them. The idea is for the permits to be issued by the county and for the county to get the fees. The committee’s hope is that sufficient revenue would be raised through such a local permit program to not only fund the building inspector position but for other county needs.

“We (county) are currently a state regulated building program. We are asking to move us (county) to an exempt program for issuing building permits,” said Green. “It’s the same building codes the state uses now. Its just who gets the revenue from the permits, the state or county,” he said.

The first step is for the county commission to pass a resolution adopting the current state building codes for the county to go by and then hire a local part time building inspector to administer the program.

Green explained that the state would have oversight over the county to ensure compliance.

“I emailed the state and got a step-by-step process on how to do this,” said Green. “The first thing we have to do is approve a resolution adopting the state building codes that everybody already has to go by to build in the state of Tennessee. We would then have to enter into a contract with a building inspector. We have to hire one. He has to be a state of Tennessee certified building inspector in B-1 building, P-2 plumbing, and M-1 mechanical. The committee is recommending that we advertise for a building inspector that meets these qualifications and is certified in these areas,” Green explained. “Then we have to send back a 14-page survey to the state who will have someone go over that survey and then come out and audit us to make sure we have done everything right. Again, what the committee is proposing to do is for the county to follow exactly what the state is recommending as far as adopting building codes, hiring a building inspector, filling out the surveys, and then letting them (state) come out and audit us. Audits are done every three years,” said Green.

Fees generated through the issuance of local building permits would be expected to cover the salary of the part time building inspector.

“We would have to establish his salary. We came up with the same thing the City of Smithville is doing. The city pays their part time building inspector 65% of the building permit fees. The city gets the other 35%,” said Green. “I talked to the property assessor, and he said there is a room in his office that could be used by the building inspector to set up a computer and store his files. We would put the application for a building permit on our (county) website and the contractors could go directly to that and print it from there and then forward everything to the building inspector,” Green said.

“We would start out with a part time building inspector and pay him 65% of the permit costs. The county gets the other 35%. Building permit fees for commercial and residential structures would be based on a graduated scale according to the square footage, with additional costs for electrical inspections done by the state. We would exempt agriculture buildings. If a farmer wanted to build a shop or a barn, he wouldn’t need a permit. And you could build a deck on your house and wouldn’t need a permit. But if you add onto your house more than 30 square feet of living areas you would have to get a permit. That’s state law,” said Green.

“Basically, all this means is right now if you are building a house the contractor is doing this already,” said committee member Mathias Anderson. “They are just having to go through the state and they are paying the state for the permit. All we are doing is basically saying instead of calling Nashville you call the county,” he said.

“My biggest concern would be is there enough building to support this,” said Anderson. “DeKalb County had 165 homes built just in 2024. That was a huge increase from what I looked at previously,” he said. “The other thing is the salary. In a meeting we learned that the standard is a percentage of the fees so its not a salary. Its basically just a 1099. They only get paid when we get paid for the permits. Not anything additional except for the electrical inspection. The permit covers the cost,” said Anderson.

“Being in the real estate industry I have seen a lot of houses that should not have gotten passed and having somebody here to do this (inspection) I think would really improve the building here. Not saying that the state is not doing their job, but I would love to have somebody with an office here to go and check out these houses,” said Commissioner Tony Luna during last week’s workshop.

March 29, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

Smithville Police have charged two people with child abuse and neglect for leaving a disabled child home alone.

33-year-old David Ferrell and 21-year-old Kayla Raymond of Smithville are each under a $5,000 bond.

Chief Mark Collins said that on February 24 police were summoned to a residence on West Broad Street to conduct a welfare check on a child. Upon arrival, officers found a nine-year-old boy with a disability who was locked inside the home alone. The child was unable to reach the lock to open the door. Police gained entry through a window and were eventually able to contact by phone the child’s father, Ferrell.

Detectives interviewed Ferrell and his girlfriend, Raymond and learned that the couple had left the child alone for about two hours which was apparently a common practice. Both Ferrell and Raymond were placed in custody. The child was placed with the Department of Children Services.

45-year-old Anthony Atnip of Smithville is charged with sexual battery.

Chief Collins said that on March 5 Smithville Police Detectives began an investigation of Atnip regarding an alleged sexual assault on a juvenile. During the probe, detectives concluded that Atnip had committed the offense of sexual battery on a juvenile in the city limits of Smithville. His bond is $1,500.

46-year-old Christina Wood of Buffalo Valley is charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and three counts of assault on a first responder.

According to Chief Collins, an officer stopped a motorcycle on East Broad Street for speeding on March 8. As he approached the bike Wood, a passenger, got off the motorcycle without being asked and informed the officer that she was drunk and had just left the strip club. During the stop, the officer said Wood became angry and followed him back to the patrol car. As he asked her to return to the bike, another officer showed up and Wood again became angry. When they placed Wood under arrest and tried to handcuff her, she began kicking and fighting with the officers. Due to her unruly behavior, Wood fell to the ground as police tried to gain control of her. Wood was subsequently taken into custody. Her bond is $16,000.

42-year-old Gregory Sims of Smithville is charged with DUI and resisting arrest. He is also cited for failure to maintain lane of travel, violation of implied consent, driving on a suspended license, and improper display of plates.

Chief Collins said that on February 24 an officer pulled over a vehicle on East Broad Street for failure to maintain lane of travel. While speaking with the driver, Sims the officer noticed that he showed signs of impairment. Sims submitted to but performed poorly on all field sobriety tasks. At the hospital during a blood draw, Sims refused to cooperate with officers. They had to physically escort him from the hospital. Bond for Sims is $5,000.

51-year-old Mariano Reyes of Smithville is charged with a second offense of DUI. Chief Collins said that on March 16 police responded to an incident involving two vehicles on Carter Street. Upon arrival, officers spoke with Reyes who was operating one of the automobiles and noticed that he showed signs of impairment. Reyes admitted to having been drinking. He submitted to but performed poorly on field sobriety tasks. Reyes was placed in custody. His bond is $3,500.

22-year-old Jacob Brown of Smithville is charged with domestic assault and public intoxication. Chief Collins said that on March 22 police were summoned to Highland Drive due to a domestic complaint. Upon arrival they found Brown outside, and he showed signs of impairment. According to police, Brown became angry and uncooperative as they were trying to investigate the incident. Officers discovered physical evidence of an assault and determined that Brown had been the primary aggressor. He was placed in custody. His bond is $5,000 and he will be in court April 3.

March 28, 2025
By: Jeff Taylor

Four teams from the DeKalb Fishing Team competed on Percy Priest Lake on Saturday, March 22. The youngest team Jacob Johnson and Slade Bennet brought in 9.36 pounds while senior boys Mason Taylor and Wesley Kent had 21.59 pounds with back-to-back wins on Percy Priest. The next stop is on April 5th, at the Central Trail TN Bass Nation Championship to be held on Center Hill Lake. “We will be going out of Edgar Evins State Park and would like to invite everyone to come out to watch the weigh-in at 3:00 pm. Several teams are battling it out for first place and Mason & Wesley are one of those teams so come out and cheer us on. Thank You Sponsors for your support,” said Coach Jeff Taylor.

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