Disgraced Knox County sheriff’s detective will pocket nearly $5,100
The Knox County sheriff’s detective who called for the execution of LGBTQ people will receive weeks of sick pay from the county coffers before he leaves the agency in July as part of a buyout deal.
Taxpayers will end up footing nearly $5,100 for the 27 days, or 216 hours, of paid sick leave since Grayson Fritts’ last day on active duty, according to a copy of his attendance record and time card obtained by the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Fritts also is not eating into his paid time off, and avoids an unpaid suspension for his call for state-sponsored violence, by using his sick leave as a bridge to the buyout that takes effect July 19. He would not have been eligible to be paid out for his sick leave based on his length of service.
Fritts worked his last paid day on June 12, the same day the News Sentinel first reported about the sermon he delivered June 2 at an independent Baptist church in Knoxville.
Sheriff Tom Spangler said he approved Fritts’ application for the buyout before his office learned about the sermon. He also said Fritts would provide the necessary doctor’s note to justify his extended sick leave as required by county policy.
Sheriff’s office spokeswoman Kimberly Glenn did not respond to questions emailed Monday by the News Sentinel.
The county commission unanimously approved a joint resolution denouncing hate speech Monday night, saying the “County Mayor and the County Commission absolutely and unequivocally denounce, condemn, and reject intimidation, threats and calls for violence or the unlawful abridgment of rights, liberties, privileges or immunities, directed at any citizen or group of citizens for any reason whatsoever.” The decision about how to deal with Fritts rests solely with Spangler because the sheriff’s office operates separately from county government.
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs said last week that Christianity is about love, not hatred — and that the hate espoused by Fritts has no place in Knox County.
“There is no First Amendment protection for what this fellow has done. If they want to fire him, they can.”
— STEWART HARRIS, PROFESSOR AT LINCOLN MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY’S DUNCAN SCHOOL OF LAW
FRITTS WORKED AFTER HATE-LACED SERMON
Fritts had applied for the county’s buyout program weeks prior to taking the pulpit June 2, when he said members of the LGBTQ community should be executed by the government.
Spangler said he approved Fritts’ buyout before he learned of the sermon, though the sheriff’s office can provide no written documentation showing what date the buyout was accepted.
Fritts worked another three days for the sheriff’s office after the sermon, broken up by days of paid sick leave, according to his time card.
His last day was June 12, the same day the News Sentinel broke the story of his hate-filled sermon.
In a speech before the county commission on June 17, Spangler said Fritts was removed from his duties to answer calls of service “hours after” the sheriff watched a video of his sermon.
Spangler, through spokeswoman Kimberly Glenn, declined to say exactly when he watched the video.
FRITTS CLEARED THE BAR FOR DISMISSAL
The Sheriff’s Office Merit System allows for an employee to be dismissed for cause, including “moral or ethical situations that make the employee unsuitable” and an employee displaying “notoriously disgraceful personal conduct.”
Fritts’ words are more than enough cause for termination, constitutional law professor Stewart Harris said Friday.
“There is no First Amendment protection for what this fellow has done,” said Harris, who teaches at Lincoln Memorial University’s Duncan School of Law.
“If they want to fire him, they can. The reason for that is his off-duty comments in his sermon have evidenced a disconnect [with] his oath of office and sworn duty to protect the community.”
Spangler told the News Sentinel that Fritts was not fired for his comments because the county was concerned about First Amendment lawsuits, saying “we looked at every avenue we could look at without violating anybody’s First Amendment rights [and] freedom of speech and the best thing for us was what we did.
“And that’s what we’re sticking with.”
FRITTS IN LINE TO RECEIVE PENSION
Fritts’ buyout does not affect his county pension, which he will be eligible for once he turns 50, County Retirement and Pension Board Executive Director Kim Bennett said. He will not receive a full pension because he did not work 25 years as required by the Uniformed Officers Pension Plan.
Still, Fritts should receive at least $1,275.28 a month, according to the formula Bennett provided with data from the News Sentinel salary database.
The 2019 Uniformed Officers Pension Plan lists two ways a KCSO employee can lose his or her pension: if they are found guilty to have attempted to defraud the retirement plan or if they are convicted of a felony in the “discharge of county government duties.”