Chattanooga Pulse

In Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield’s State of the City Address Thursday, he expressed support for merging many departments of city and county governments. In response to that, Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond came out swinging.

Hammond held a press conference in which he indicated that if a merger was to take place between the city and county law enforcement agencies, HIS department should take the lead.

He noted that the office of Sheriff is constitutionally mandated in the State of Tennessee.

That mandate dictates that the sheriff is to run the jail and provide law enforcement for the county … and that would include the city in the event of a merger.