NOT SO!!

             After wedding licenses are obtained from the County Court Clerk’s Office there seems to be a bottle neck that only leads to certain County Commissioners to perform the ceremony.

             Is this an ETHICAL/HONEST way to conduct the service provided to brides and grooms who come to our county to get married?? Is it an Ethical/Honest way to treat the Businesses who are in the business of performing weddings??           

             Is it an INCOME for a very few, who happen to be county officials and incidentally are not reporting it to the TN. Ethics Commission and the probability is great, that it is not reported to the IRS.??

Records from Tn. Ethics Commission are made public record on the internet.

Open , Honest  County Government

PUBLIC SPIRITED CITIZENS of SEVIER COUNTY

Community Complaints / Concerns

Weddings, Wedding, Weddings everywhere in Sevier County?......

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Information:

County commissioners are expressly authorized by statute to solemnize marriages.  T.C.A. 36-3-310(a)(1).  There is, therefore, no conflict of interest in their doing so. 

 

County commissioners are required to report to the Tennessee Ethics Commission all sources of private income in excess of $1,000.  T.C.A. 8-50-501(a)(19); T.C.A. 8-50-502(1).  Income from public employment is not required to be reported; this would clearly apply to the county commissioner's salary but, assuming that the county commissioner is retaining the gratuity rather than turning it over to the county's general fund, it is not so clear whether the reporting requirement would apply to gratuities for solemnizing weddings. 

Information to share with you on the subject of commissioners' personal income derived from the power given them to perform marriages.  There will be no record of 'gratuities' being turned over to the general fund, this is personal income.  What they do with the receipts of their labor by authority given them should be considered 'income' and nothing more unless by the reporting process required by the Commission (which we have found not to be done) or reported to the IRS (which we are advised is under investigation at this time due to citizens' reporting to the IRS) this will continue to be a matter for consideration.  Those interested in pursuing good and sound legal advice have been referred to counsel which are recommended as trustworthy and competent by members of Public Citizens of Sevier County.  We shall await further developments.

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