Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Impairment On Duty topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Officer with on‑duty BAC of 0.17 agrees to suspension; POST resets case to next month
Summary
Jasper officer who registered a 0.17 BAC on duty resigned; commissioners agreed to let legal craft an indefinite suspension order and reset the matter to the next month while TBI and the district attorney review potential criminal charges.
The informal POST committee reset the case of a Jasper police officer who registered a 0.17 blood‑alcohol concentration on duty and accepted a voluntary suspension arrangement pending criminal review.
Donald Dykes, a lieutenant with the Jasper Police Department, told commissioners he was alerted by Marion County dispatch to concerns about Patrol Officer Lillian Lockhart, observed an odor of alcohol and found watery, red eyes; Lockhart consented to BAC testing and the result was 0.17. The department placed Lockhart on administrative suspension and later received her resignation dated July 29.
Dykes said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation had been notified and that the district attorney's office had taken the matter. Lockhart told the committee she has acknowledged an alcohol problem, has stopped drinking and is participating in recovery meetings.
Commissioners discussed options including decertification and a voluntary indefinite suspension while criminal matters proceed. The panel agreed to reset the matter to next month to give legal staff time to prepare an agreed suspension order; if Lockhart does not sign the order by next month, commissioners said they would reconsider other disciplinary options.
The informal committee emphasized that an on‑duty BAC of 0.17 is well above legal limits and raised concerns about operational risk for departments that allow officers to work while impaired.
