Rickie L. Carpenter elected to fill Giles County Third District vacancy

Rickie L. Carpenter was elected Third District County Commissioner by the Giles County Legislative Body on Aug. 18, 2025, and was sworn in during a recess that evening.

County Executive Graham Stowe opened the vacancy process by reciting the statutory procedure: "The process for filling a commissioner vacancy is provided in Tennessee Code 5-5-111. We'll be following that process to the letter." Commissioners nominated four candidates: Carpenter (nominated by Commissioner Annelle Guthrie), Brett McNeil (nominated by Commissioner Matt Rubelsky), Rosemary Martin (nominated by Commissioner Evan Baddour), and Mike Cesarini (nominated by Commissioner Roger Reedy). After a motion by Commissioner Caleb Savage, seconded by Commissioner Matthew Hopkins, nominations were closed and the commission held a roll-call vote.

The roll-call returns recorded votes for each nominee. Commissioners who voted for Rickie L. Carpenter included Erin Curry, James Lathrop, Terry Jones, David Wamble, Tracy Wilburn, David Adams, Annelle Guthrie, Caleb Savage, Brad Butler, Gayle Jones, Joseph Sutton and Carman Brown. Roger Reedy, Shelly Goolsby and Judy Pruett voted for Mike Cesarini; Evan Baddour and Rose Brown voted for Rosemary Martin; Matthew Hopkins and Matt Rubelsky voted for Brett McNeil. County Executive Stowe declared Carpenter elected to serve until the countywide election in August 2026.

The court recessed for a swearing-in ceremony and reconvened to document roll. The session returned to business after the oath.

No further motions related to the special election were recorded. The meeting proceeded to other agenda items.