DeKalb Neighbors Helping Neighbors Blood Drive May 13

May 3, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A DeKalb County Neighbors Helping Neighbors Blood Assurance Drive will be Monday, May 13 from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. at the County Complex Senior Citizens Center inside the Bloodmobile.

All donors will be given a FREE “Never Stop Saving Lives” t-shirt. All donors will also be entered for a chance to win a $250 gift card to REI.

To schedule an appointment, go to Bloodassurance.org/dekalb or contact Jimmy Poss at 615-464-7426 or jmposs72@yahoo.com.

Please remember to EAT A GOOD MEAL and drink additional water and bring a photo ID.

Blood Assurance is the SOLE blood provider for our local hospitals

May 2, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A Dowelltown man has been charged with the rape and incest of a 13 year old girl.

66 year old William Kenneth Phillips of Wendy Cut Street, Dowelltown is under a $150,000 bond and his next court date is May 9.

Sheriff Patrick Ray said that Phillips admitted to having had sexual contact with the child four or five times from March 1 through May 31, 2018.

The case was investigated by sheriff’s department detectives.

May 2, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County Courts and Sheriff’s Department made history this week by launching a new video arraignment system. The first county in the seven county 13th judicial district to do so.

It was first used Wednesday in Criminal Court by Judge Gary McKenzie and Thursday in General Sessions Court by Judge Bratten Cook, II.

With the video arraignment system, a judge can have the formal reading of criminal charges to an incarcerated defendant without them being in the room. The inmates are beamed into the courtroom through video chat rather than physically being transported by deputies from the jail to the courthouse.

(VIDEO HERE SHOWS INMATE WILLIAM KENNETH PHILLIPS MAKING HIS FIRST GENERAL SESSIONS COURT APPEARANCE FROM THE JAIL THURSDAY ON CHARGES OF RAPE AND INCEST BY VIDEO CHAT WITH JUDGE BRATTEN COOK, II)

The total cost of purchasing and installing the camera equipment for LIVE video chat between the jail and in the general sessions and criminal courtrooms came to $39, 391 but the county applied for a grant through the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts and was funded at $35, 407 dollars with a 10% local match of $3,984.

The grant application was prepared by County Mayor Tim Stribling and former Circuit Court Clerk Katherine Pack and submitted several months ago.

Stribling said the video arraignment system still preserves the rights of due process for inmates without incurring the risks and expense of inmate transportation back and forth between the jailhouse and courtroom. It can also enhance safety and security in the courthouse.

“This video arraignment system is something Katherine Pack and I talked about getting for a couple of years. We applied for a grant in 2017 for bullet proof benches and panic buttons in both courtrooms. We received $17,000 for this upgrade and also courtroom security training. This brought our courtrooms up to minimum courtroom security standards thus allowing us to apply for the video arraignment system. The judges and Sheriff Patrick Ray were in favor of us applying for this grant. We are pleased and very fortunate to have received funds for this system. With only a 10% match, it lessens the financial burden on the county of installing a $39,000 system like this,” said County Mayor Stribling.

“I am very thankful for the video arraignment grant. Transporting inmates from the jail to the courthouse is very dangerous. It is a time that inmates may try to escape or try to pick up contraband and bring back into the jail. There are also safety concerns for the inmate. Someone may try to take out their anger on an inmate for the crime he or she has committed during this time. This is a safety concern for the jail staff also, “ said Sheriff Ray.

“We transport around 25 to 30 inmates on General Sessions court days and around 35 to 49 inmates on Criminal Court days. The video arraignment will cut down on transporting inmates for first time court arraignments also. We have to do inmate transports from other jails to the courts here in DeKalb County. We are hoping this system can be used instead of doing the transports. If a jail has a system like this, the inmate will remain in the county they are incarcerated at and the judge will be able to see them in the courtroom here in DeKalb and do their arraignment over the video system. This will save a lot of time and money and also free up sitting space in the courtrooms and bed space at the jail,” added Sheriff Ray.

Since defendants have a right to face their accusers, the video system cannot be used in every stage of the judicial process.

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