Knoxville lands on Pork Report for spending $110,000 on police chief search, lawsuit

The city of Knoxville is highlighted in the Beacon Center of Tennessee's annual Pork Report that details what the organization calls wasteful government spending in the Volunteer State.

The moderate conservative think tank dinged Knoxville in the report released Dec. 13 for hiring a private firm to conduct the city's police chief search in 2022 and for spending tens of thousands of dollars to fight an open records lawsuit filed by Knox News over the process.

In all, the city has spent about $110,419 on the search firm and legal fees through mid-August.

“(T)he city tried to circumvent open records laws by hiring a third party to conduct a search for a new police chief to avoid a paper trail,” the Beacon Center report said. “This is akin to asking your dog to eat your homework, just so you can say you don’t have it. Props to the mayor’s office for the creative workaround, but transparency shouldn’t be shrouded in secrecy, and luckily a judge agreed.

“Instead of using its own human resources department that is already funded by taxpayers, the third-party search firm cost taxpayers $43,000 plus an additional $67,000 in legal services to defend this move meant to avoid transparency,” the report said.

The lawsuit is making its way through the courts. In November, Knox County Chancellor John Weaver affirmed Knox News could place city officials under oath to answer questions about the search. Specifically, the city’s private attorney argued Knox News’ questions should be limited to only six city employees and the depositions should be limited to an hour apiece. Weaver disagreed.

In a statement to Knox News, city spokesperson Eric Vreeland said Chief Paul Noel, who was ultimately chosen, has previously said he wouldn't have applied for the job had his application not been kept private.

"After Chief Noel was hired, the city released to media every single document related to the search, including the names and background of every applicant," he said. "Additionally, the city has tried in earnest to resolve the Knox News lawsuit, which we believe became moot with the release of records that were far beyond what Knox News originally requested."

Noel was named in April 2022. The city released the documents 13 months later in May 2023.

Vreeland's statement went on to advise Knox News how it could better serve its readers. He also said the mayor's office's actions in the hiring process should be "a closed matter" and attorneys are the "only winners in all of this."

How we got here

The city invited public input at the beginning of its search for a new police chief and Kincannon promised a transparent process. But when the mayor's office began the real work of recruiting and narrowing candidates, Kincannon prevented the public from learning any meaningful details about the process.

Additionally, city leaders deliberately avoided creating public records to hide from residents the details of the process and the people under consideration. As the Beacon report noted, one of the private attorneys hired by the city to fight Knox News' lawsuit admitted in a court hearing the process was designed to avoid creating public records and skirt the law requiring disclosure.

• The city hired a private firm to conduct a candidate search instead of relying on its own human resources department.

• That firm, Police Executive Research Forum, handled the hiring process at a cost to taxpayers of $43,000.

• Kincannon appointed a committee to review candidates, but required members who weren't city employees to sign nondisclosure agreements so they couldn't discuss the hiring process.

• The city hired Police Executive Research Forum to collect applications and share them with the city, but only by methods that did not create documents, which must be shared with the public under Tennessee open records laws.

• Police Executive Research Forum set up interviews by Zoom, the online teleconference system. It showed candidates' resumes and other documents within the Zoom so the city did not have in its possession written documents subject to public scrutiny.

Kincannon selected Noel, a deputy chief from the New Orleans Police Department. He was sworn into office in June 2022. Knox News sued the city in July 2022 on behalf of taxpayers to see records from the police chief search.

The city maintained that releasing candidates’ names would have a “chilling effect” on the careers of the men and women who applied. Knox News compiled research and published a report debunking that assertion, and the mayor's office ended up releasing the names anyway under the pressure of the lawsuit.

Tyler Whetstone is an investigative reporter focused on accountability journalism. Connect with Tyler by emailing him at tyler.whetstone@knoxnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tyler_whetstone.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Spending on police chief search, lawsuit lands Knoxville on Pork Report