Knox County commissioners on the Rules Committee voted to recommend several procedural changes to the county's meeting rules, including a new "spread of record" requirement for grant applications and clarifications about committee referrals and commissioner participation in committee meetings.

The committee on the motion recommended adding a new Section L, "Spread of Record," to Rule 6 (miscellaneous) and approved language from the county law department clarifying that "nothing in this resolution shall apply to grant funds which are received without application by Knox County." Commissioner Fox introduced the item, citing a desire to give the public more lead time to review complex grant applications and to increase transparency about grants that carry conditions or other obligations.

The measure was prompted by a prior commission directive and staff research showing there is no statutory requirement that a spread-of-record procedure be included in the commission rules. Fox told the committee she would advance a resolution to the full commission and, if adopted, pursue memorializing the policy in the formal rules.

Director Holden, representing county administration, raised a substantive concern about the proposed subsection that would bar approval prior to the month an application is placed on the spread of record. Holden said some funds arrive to the county through formula or emergency programs "where there is no application or necessarily supporting documentation," and urged carve-outs to preserve the county's ability to accept and approve such funds. The law department's edit, adopted by the committee, explicitly exempts grant funds received without an application.

The committee also cleared related rule changes:
- Committee referrals (Rule 1, Section I): The committee adopted language making it the responsibility of the maker of the motion to refer a matter to contact the committee chair to ensure the referral is placed on the committee agenda. Committee members said the change is intended to create a clear, traceable record of who initiated a referral and to improve follow-up.
- Committee meetings open to commissioners (Rule 5, Section B): The committee clarified that commissioners who are not appointed members may participate in committee meetings when recognized by the chair; the rule retains a single, explicit exception: the audit committee's confidential nonpublic executive sessions under state law remain closed to nonmembers.

On the procedural placement of public input, the committee discussed whether to move the open-topics/public forum earlier in the agenda so constituents would not have to wait through lengthy business; members debated chair discretion versus a full-commission vote and noted constitutional limits on content-based decisions. The committee ultimately omitted items 9 and 10 from further action at this meeting by voice vote.

The committee also adopted a narrower amendment governing honorary resolutions and proclamations, limiting them to individuals or organizations that "reside in or are based in Knox County or whose significant contributions directly benefit the Knox County community." Committee members debated whether restricting honorary resolutions further would save meeting time but noted the potential for perceived unfairness if recognitions are omitted.

During other business, the committee discussed technical implications of switching to electronic voting. County counsel and other members noted that the current rules do not require a change for electronic voting, but that some practices would change operationally: under electronic voting platforms, individual commissioners would not be able to delay casting a vote to watch how others vote unless the rules were amended to allow post-display vote changes. Staff recommended a training session on the new system and returning to rules if members want to formalize any changes.

Motions on the package of rule changes and related recommendations were adopted by voice votes at the meeting and will be forwarded to the full commission for consideration under the standard rules-adoption process. The Rules Committee scheduled its next meeting for Monday, January 26 at 1 p.m.

"The intent is transparency," Commissioner Fox said when introducing the spread-of-record item. "I want more lead time" for commissioners and the public to review grant applications. Director Holden urged clarity for emergency and formula funding: "There are occasions where we don't actually apply for grant funds ... it's an emergency kind of program where there is no application or necessarily supporting documentation."