The Loudon County Commission on Jan. 5 approved Smoky Mountain as a qualified electronic-monitoring provider for tracking certain offenders.

County staff described the vendor's role as providing electronic monitoring following domestic-violence incidents and explained that multiple companies have historically provided similar services. Staff said the vendor needs a local agreement with each county where it operates and that all monitoring costs are billed to the offender. "All costs are associated to go to the offender," staff said.

Commissioner Shaver moved to approve the Smoky Mountain offender-tracking system; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.

The commission noted it maintains a contract with other providers and is extending local qualification to this company under county practice. No fiscal appropriation was recorded for county general funds; staff said the program is funded by offender fees and existing contract mechanisms.

Next step: staff will finalize local agreement language and report back as needed.