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Board of Visitors member says Knox County withheld access after report; asks commission to enforce statutory oversight
Summary
Luca Mellon, a member of the Knox County Board of Visitors, told commissioners he was removed from the oversight board without lawful authority and described concerns about jail conditions, transparency of deaths in custody, contracts for jail programming, and blocked access for the mandated advisory board.
Luca Mellon, who said he was appointed to the Knox County Board of Visitors in October 2023, told the county commission on May 13 that the sheriff's office stopped cooperating with the board after it issued an eight-page recommendations report in April 2024. Mellon said he was informed in February that he had been removed from the board and that the sheriff's office gave shifting reasons for restricting his access.
Mellon said his removal is inconsistent with the law that creates county boards of visitors. He told the commission that "The county jails for the visitors are laid out in Title 30-A subsection 1651" and that the statute does not give sheriffs the power to unilaterally remove members. Mellon said he remains a board member through October 2026 and asked the commission to press for compliance and transparency.
He described several areas of concern at the Knox County Jail: suspended contact visitation, uncertainty about which contractors provide discharge planning and other reentry services (he specifically referenced Volunteers of America), a PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) audit whose findings he says he has not been able to obtain, questions about programming providers and a chaplain vacancy, and the reporting of a death in custody that Mellon said was not clearly disclosed to the public when it occurred.
Mellon requested that the sheriff's office reinstate his membership or otherwise allow him to complete his three-year term; asked that the county publicly post a vacancy targeted to someone with lived experience of incarceration; and requested access to contracts and to the PREA audit report so the board can perform its oversight duties. He also asked for alternative avenues for prisoner advocacy, such as making prisoner-advocacy brochures available in the facility and allowing established advocates to visit.
Commissioners discussed the limits of their authority over an elected sheriff and acknowledged the difficulty of enforcing board oversight when the sheriff's office resists cooperation. Commissioner Glaser and others encouraged Mellon to continue documenting requests and said the commission would seek the records Mellon requested. The county administrator and commissioners said they would follow up with relevant officials and review the documentation Mellon provided.
No formal action (motions or votes) to change board membership or reassign oversight responsibilities was taken at the meeting; Mellon's requests were recorded as public testimony and will require further administrative or intergovernmental follow-up.
