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Fire/Rescue presentation outlines inspectors' authority, Certificate of Occupancy compliance
Summary
Sevier County Fire/Rescue described proposed inspector enforcement powers and Certificate of Occupancy compliance during a joint Intergovernmental and Emergency Services meeting; commissioners asked how life-safety and non–life-safety violations would be handled.
Chief David Puckett, director of fire prevention and response, and Vice Mayor Bryan McCarter presented a Fire/Rescue briefing to the Sevier County Board of Commissioners’ joint Intergovernmental and Emergency Services meeting on June 19, 2023. Commissioner Jack Parton asked what enforcement authority proposed inspectors would hold.
Chief David Puckett explained that inspectors would be able to order the shutdown of businesses when an inspection finds a life-safety hazard. For violations that are not life-safety hazards, Puckett said enforcement could involve referral to the district attorney’s office or the sheriff’s office for further action. Director Chris Jenkins added that inspected structures would be required to be compliant with the Certificate of Occupancy based on the code adopted for that year.
Vice Mayor Bryan McCarter reviewed the meeting’s discussion of exempt status for certain properties under the proposed inspection framework. The presentation was informational; no separate formal action on inspector authority was recorded in the transcript. The Emergency Services Committee later moved to adjourn at 2:45 PM.
The transcript does not include verbatim quotes for these explanations; the account above paraphrases officials’ descriptions as recorded in the meeting minutes. Individual vote tallies were not recorded in the transcript for subsequent resolutions that followed this presentation.
