DeKalb Election Commission Expands Hours for Early Voting

June 27, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County Election Commission has expanded and made more uniform the hours of early voting for the upcoming August 1 elections.

The early voting period begins July 12 through July 27.

Early voters may cast ballots at the courthouse in Smithville during a six-hour period on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. and Tuesdays from 12 noon until 6 p.m. Early voting on Saturdays will be from 9 a.m. until 12 noon as in the past. No early voting on Sundays.

In Alexandria, early voting will take place on two dates, Tuesday July 16 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. and on Tuesday, July 23 from 12 noon until 6 p.m. at the Kenneth Sandlin Center on the DeKalb County Fairgrounds.

Previously early voting periods during the week in Smithville were for four hours at a time and three hours on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the election commission has released the sample ballot for the elections on Thursday, August 1 which will include the DeKalb County General Election, Municipal Elections in Smithville, Dowelltown, and Alexandria, and the Tennessee Republican and Democratic Primaries.

Sample Ballot

The Voter Registration Deadline is Tuesday, July 2. The deadline to update an address on voter registrations is Friday, July 26.

All the local Republican nominees from the March primary will be unopposed in the DeKalb County General Election including Incumbent Assessor of Property Shannon Cantrell, Sixth district incumbent school board member Jason Miller, Fifth district school board candidate Megan Moore; Constable candidates 1st District: Tyler Cripps, 2nd District: Danny Adamson, 3rd District: Incumbent Travis Bryant, 4th District: Incumbent Lane Ball, 5th District: Incumbent Mark Milam, and 7th District: Jeremy Neal, and Judge Shawn C. Fry for the newly created Criminal Court Judge position in Part III of the seven-county 13th Judicial District.

For the county commission to fill unexpired terms, Andy Pack in the 6th district and Mathias Anderson in district 7 were recently nominated and certified as Republican candidates through the local GOP caucus process and their names will appear on the August 1 ballot.

The Smithville Municipal Election will be uncontested on August 1. The three incumbent aldermen up for re-election, Shawn Jacobs, Danny Washer, and Jessica Higgins will be running unopposed. The terms are for four years each.

Only three people qualified for the Alexandria Municipal Election ballot on August 1. In this election, the positions to be filled are for mayor (unexpired term), three aldermen, and three other aldermen (unexpired terms). Beth Tripp will run for the unexpired mayor’s term while Jeff Ford is seeking to fill an unexpired alderman term and Jonathon Tripp is running for a full alderman term. No one qualified on the ballot to run for the other positions.

No one qualified to run in the Dowelltown Municipal Election on August 1 in which a mayor and two aldermen are to be elected.

The following have filed a certificate of write-in for the following offices, but their names do not appear on the August 1 ballot:

Constable- District 6:
Keith Elkins

City of Alexandria:
Mayor
Allen Lawson
Russell “Rusty” Bradshaw

Alderman
Bobbie Ford

Robert “Bobby” Simpson

Lucas “Luke” Prichard

Curtis Rutter

The August 1 ballot will feature two State Judicial Retention questions as follows:

Shall Dwight Tarwater be retained in office as a Judge of the Supreme Court At Large or be replaced?

Shall Matthew J. Wilson be retained in office as a Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals, Western Division or be replaced?

In the Tennessee Republican Primary on August 1 the candidates are as follows:

United States House of Representatives District 6: John Rose

United States Senate: Marsha Blackburn and Tres Wittum

Tennessee Senate District 16: Janice Bowling

Tennessee House of Representatives District 40: Michael Hale

In the Tennessee Democratic Primary on August 1 the candidates are as follows:

United States House of Representatives District 6: Lore Bergman, Clay Faircloth, and Cyril Focht

United States Senate: Marquita Bradshaw, Lola Denise Brown, Gloria Johnson, and Civil Miller-Watkins

Tennessee Senate District 16: Wayne Steele

Tennessee House of Representatives District 40: Daniel T. Hawthorne

State Executive Committeewoman District 16: Rupa Blackwell.

Sample Ballot

June 26, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

A local petition drive has been launched seeking to force a public referendum after the county commission Monday night approved an initial resolution authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds not to exceed $65 million for the development and construction of a judicial center/jail.

The petition must be filed within the next 20 days bearing signatures of at least 10% of the registered voters of DeKalb County in order for the protest to proceed to a referendum. Should there be a referendum, it would be on the issue of the bonds and not the tax levy which has been established for the 2024-25 fiscal year by the county commission.

Jon Slager, a DeKalb County native and Lascassas resident and attorney, said he is assisting with the petition drive.

In a prepared statement, Slager said “I have been approached by numerous residents of DeKalb County about assisting them with a referendum petition regarding the bond resolution passed on Monday. The bond resolution was a tie vote, but the County Mayor did cast a tie breaking vote in favor of the bond resolution”.

“The people that have contacted me are from every end of the political spectrum,” said Slager. “I think people realize that this is not a political issue, but a taxpayer issue. It is difficult for an average person to even imagine borrowing sixty-five million dollars. The people that have asked me to help are worried about DeKalb County incurring this amount of debt and how it will handcuff the county moving forward with funding for other needed building projects. I would even be willing to say that these bond and tax issues have generated more interest in county government than anything in recent memory,” Slager continued.

“The process to try to stop the bonds from being issued begins and ends with a referendum petition. This is a petition that has to be signed by registered voters of DeKalb County. Based on the amount of support, there will be a booth at the DeKalb County Fair for the rest of the week where citizens can go to sign the petition. The booth will be near the Alexandria Lion’s Club food booth. I encourage every registered voter to come by during the fair and sign the petition so that the bond issue can be placed on a ballot and voted on by the citizens of DeKalb County. If you do not get a chance to sign the petition at the fair, there will be some future announcements, likely on Facebook and other social media sites, that will provide locations and times that citizens can sign the petition at local businesses. This petition appears to be the only remedy for the taxpayers to seek, so the level of importance cannot be understated. Also, there is a limited amount of time to obtain these signatures, so time is of the essence,” said Slager.

The Initial Resolution as adopted by the county commission Monday night states as follows:

“Be it resolved by the Board of County Commissioners of DeKalb County, Tennessee (the “County”) that for the purpose of providing funds for the (i) acquisition of land for, design, site, development, construction, improvement, renovation, repair and equipping of County buildings, including but not limited to a County jail and judicial center and related facilities, (ii) acquisition of public safety and emergency response vehicles and equipment; (iii) payment of legal, fiscal, administrative, architectural and engineering costs incident to any or all of the foregoing; (iv) acquisition of all property, real and personal, related to the foregoing (collectively, the “Projects); (v) reimbursement to the appropriate fund of the County for prior expenditures for the foregoing costs, if applicable; and (vi) payment of costs incident to the issuance and sale of the bonds authorized herein, there shall be issued payment of costs incident to the issuance and sale of the bonds authorized herein, there shall be used bonds, in one or more series, of said County in the aggregate principal amount not to exceed $65,000,000, which shall bear interest at a rate or rates not to exceed the maximum rate permitted by applicable Tennessee law at the time of issuance of the bonds, or any series thereof, and which shall be payable from unlimited ad valorem taxes to be levied on all taxable property within the County”.

“Be it further resolved, by the Board of County Commissioners of DeKalb County, Tennessee that the County Clerk be, and is, hereby directed and instructed to cause the foregoing initial resolution relative to the issuance of not to exceed $65 million general obligation bonds to be published in full in a newspaper having a general circulation in the County, for one issue of said paper followed by the statutory notice, to wit:

NOTICE

“The foregoing resolution has been adopted. Unless within twenty (20) days from the date of publication hereof a petition signed by at least ten percent (10%) of the registered voters of the County shall have been filed with the County Clerk protesting the issuance of the bonds, such bonds will be issued as proposed”.

June 26, 2024
By:

State Rep. Michael Hale, R-Smithville, today encouraged eligible religious organizations in Cannon, DeKalb, Jackson, Smith and Wilson counties to apply for a state grant to increase security at their campuses.

A total of $750,000 in Houses of Worship Security Grant funding will be distributed statewide by the
Department of Safety and Homeland Security. The funds can be used to pay for contract security personnel for eligible 501(c)(3) religious organizations including churches, synagogues, temples and mosques.

“Tennesseans should be able to freely practice their faith without fearing for their safety,” Hale said.

“It is essential that these locations have adequate security in place to protect the many worshipers they serve.

I encourage every eligible organization to apply for this important funding should an emergency unfortunately occur.”

The 2024-25 Houses of Worship Security Grant is a competitive grant with a 12-month period, disbursed
through a Tennessee cost reimbursement grant contract. The maximum award amount is $100,000.

Completed applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on July 12. Additional information about the
grant program, including how to apply, can be found on the Department of Safety and Homeland Security’s website at www.tn.gov/safety/homeland-security/grants.html.

State Rep. Michael Hale represents House District 40, which includes Cannon, DeKalb, Jackson, Smith and
part of Wilson counties.

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