Commission approves in-house terminal for sheriff's office after removing indemnity clause

The Finance Committee approved an equipment rental agreement with Diverse Computing that will allow the Hamblen County Sheriff's Office to run records checks and other queries locally, a change the department said will reduce load on 9-1-1 and mirror longstanding practice at Morristown Police Department.

Captain Freed of the sheriff's office told the committee the terminal will let deputies run stolen-property and wanted-person queries directly and reduce demand on 9-1-1 staff. He said, “it's gonna take a little bit of load off of 9 1 1 ... we'll just have a terminal in house, just like Morristown Police Department's already been doing for 20 years.”

Discussion shifted to contract language after commissioners found duplicate page numbering in the packet and identified an indemnification clause in section 3.01 (page 3) that they said needed removal or attorney review. Commissioners and staff debated whether to table the matter or approve with a stipulation; the committee voted to approve the agreement contingent on removal of the indemnification language and review by the county attorney. Commissioners said the item will return to the commission with the clause removed for final review if necessary.

The committee flagged administrative confusion in the packet (two "page 3" pages and exhibits out of order) and asked staff to ensure the final contract presented to the commission is the corrected, attorney-reviewed version.

The committee recorded no substantive change to the service being purchased: the agreement places an in-house terminal in the sheriff's office to access the shared law-enforcement database, not a new data source or replacement of public-safety systems.