County’s Judicial Commissioners Up for Re-Appointment

February 23, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

The county’s three judicial commissioner positions are up for re-appointment.

During Monday night’s monthly meeting, the county commission is expected to re-appoint Tammy Ashburn, Joy Whitman, and Gerald Bailiff to new one-year terms.

Duties of the Judicial commissioners include processing the following: Criminal summons for the general public; Orders of protections; signing all arrest warrants for the Smithville, Alexandria, and DeKalb County Sheriff’s Departments, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Edgar Evins State Park Rangers, and TWRA Officers; signing search warrants and search warrants for blood draws; signing Mittimus; setting bonds; speaking with every person who has been arrested; answering any and all calls from the public; and attending certification classes three days each year with no pay for hours attended.

Judicial Commissioners are subject to call at all hours of the day and night when on duty. Only one judicial commissioner works at a time during a one-week period on call for 168 hours. They rotate their weeks one week on duty and two weeks off.

The county commission has the sole authority in appointing judicial commissioners and terms may be from one to four years according to state law. For several years the county has had a judicial committee to vet and recommend applicants for appointment to the county commission. The committee is made up of Sheriff Patrick Ray, County Mayor Matt Adcock, Circuit Court Clerk Susan Martin, General Sessions/Juvenile Court Judge Brandon Cox, and Assistant District Attorney General Greg Strong.

Each judicial commissioner is paid $14,900 per year.

February 22, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

A 25-year-old woman and former unlicensed daycare operator originally indicted in 2023 by the DeKalb County Grand Jury on charges of child abuse and aggravated child abuse of children ages 9 months and 13 months appeared for sentencing today (Thursday) in Putnam County Criminal Court.

Karlee Madison Dickens, also known as Karlee Madison Wagner of Smithville entered a plea to two counts of child abuse and received a total sentence of six years to serve at 100%. She was given a four-year sentence in one case and two years in the other. The two cases are to run consecutively for a total of six years.

Dickens had originally been indicted on one count of aggravated child abuse and two counts of child abuse.

The case against Dickens was recently transferred to Putnam County on a change of venue motion and had been scheduled for trial next week. Judge Wesley Bray took the plea Thursday.

In a statement to WJLE in April 2023 at the time of the indictment, District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway stated that “The DeKalb County Grand Jury met on April 3, 2023 and heard testimony regarding allegations of child abuse. The Grand Jury found probable cause that the criminal offenses were committed and issued a True Bill of Indictment charging Karlee Madison Dickens (also known as Karlee Madison Wagner), age 24 with the following offenses: Aggravated Child Abuse, a Class A felony by causing serious bodily injury to a child under the age of 8. And two (2) Counts of Child Abuse, each count being a Class D felony by causing injury to a child under 8 years of age. Karlee Madison Dickens (also known as Karlee Madison Wagner) was arrested on April 4, 2023 and booked into the DeKalb County Jail,” said DA Dunaway.

In the aggravated child abuse case, the indictment alleges that Dickens, AKA Wagner abused a nine-month-old child resulting in serious bodily injury on or about May 19, 2022 thereby committing the offense of aggravated child abuse. The child’s date of birth is July, 27, 2021.

In the two-count indictment for child abuse, Dickens AKA Wagner is alleged to have inflicted injury on a 13-month-old child between the dates of August 8-12, 2022 and on or about August 17, 2022 thereby committing the offense of child abuse. The child’s date of birth is July 2, 2021.

The prosecutor in the case was Assistant District Attorney General Jessica J. Krebs and Brandon S. Griffin was the defense attorney for Dickens.

February 22, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Northside Elementary School has made the list of Tennessee’s highest performing schools and districts.

In a report released Tuesday, the Tennessee Department of Education gave hundreds of schools “reward” status for the 2022-23 school year, meaning they demonstrated high levels of performance, met specific goals to improve performance or both. The department also released names of districts that need improvement.

“The Reward school status for Northside Elementary School is a credit to the students as well as the faculty and staff for the work they have done. They have met and gone above the standards the state has set forth. They have worked hard and done a really good job,” said Director of Schools Patrick Cripps.

Third district School Board member Jim Beshearse also released a statement.

“I would like to congratulate Northside Elementary School for being named a “reward” school. Seventeen Upper Cumberland schools were recognized as “reward” schools for outstanding performance and/or improvement in performance during the last school year. This list includes six Putnam County schools, three in Overton County, two each in Cumberland, Jackson, and White counties, and one each in DeKalb and Van Buren counties. Some 400 schools statewide received the honor from the State Board of Education. A “reward” school has an overall school score of 3.1 or higher per federal accountability. According to the state, these schools demonstrate high levels of performance across numerous indicators that judge student success,” said Beshearse.

“I can’t tell you enough how proud I am of Northside Elementary School for earning this reward. I also want to say to each and every school in DeKalb County that I truly appreciate each and every one of you and thank you for always going above and beyond to make DeKalb county schools the best,” said Beshearse.

Typically the state also releases a list of priority schools, which are consistently low-performing schools that fall into the bottom 5% of the state’s standardized test scores or have low graduation rates.

However, the department did not release a priority schools list this year. It provided this statement as an explanation:

“After delays in federal accountability approvals from the U.S. Department of Education, and the first-ever implementation of the A-F school letter grade law this school year, the department has elected not to update the state’s priority school list and focus on supporting schools and districts in the implementation of policies and strategies designed to improve student outcomes.”

In a news release sent Tuesday, the department detailed the categories considered in determining each designation. They include:

•Preparing students to be proficient
•Accelerating student learning
•Encouraging students to attend school regularly
•Preparing students for postsecondary success
•Supporting English learners as they build language skills

A total of 400 schools across 98 districts earned reward status this year. The distinction emphasizes performance and improvement across all the success indicators from the previous year, according to the department.

Notably, six schools moved from the 2021-22 priority schools list to the 2022-23 reward schools list.

Those include:
•Arrow Academy of Excellence (Memphis-Shelby County Schools)
•KIPP Memphis Collegiate Middle (Memphis-Shelby County Schools)
•KIPP Memphis Academy Middle (Memphis-Shelby County Schools)
•Memphis Business Academy Hickory Hill Middle School (Memphis-Shelby County Schools)
•Ida B. Wells Elementary (Metro Nashville Public Schools)
•Tom Joy Elementary (Metro Nashville Public Schools)

Twelve districts earned exemplary status, meaning they received an overall district performance score of 3.1 or higher on a 4-point scale.

Those districts are:
•Bells City Schools
•Bledsoe County Schools
•Bradford Special School District
•Dyer County Schools
•Dyersburg City Schools
•Franklin Special School District
•Gibson County Special School District
•Johnson City Schools
•Rogersville City Schools
•Sweetwater City Schools
•Tennessee School for the Deaf
•Trousdale County Schools

Seven districts were listed as “in need of improvement.” That means their overall final score falls into the bottom 5% of all districts, according to the education department website.

Those districts are:
•Achievement School District
•Cannon County Schools
•Hickman County Schools
•Houston County Schools
•Pickett County Schools
•Robertson County Schools
•South Carroll County Special School District

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