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Knox County lessons about a trustworthy trustee • Tennessee Lookout [1]

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Date: 2025-06-03

At a recent Knoxville Smokies baseball game, I had a brief but nice chat with Ed Shouse, former Knoxville City Council member, former Knox County Commissioner, and former Knox County Trustee. I congratulated him on being one of the few recent trustees not facing scandal. He chuckled, shook his head, and said, “You’ve just got to remember it’s not your money.”

It is sage advice for anyone doing public service, especially in the trustee office, established in Knox County’s charter for collecting property taxes, disbursing and accounting for county funds and investing money quickly and wisely to earn interest and profits for the county. We in Knox County like electing all sorts of administrative offices — register of deeds, county clerk, property assessor, even court clerks — but have experienced angst regarding a lot of recent trustees.

A Knox News article noted that when current trustee Justin Biggs was elected in 2022, he hired several friends and gave them raises ranging from 30% to 71% — effectively expanding the office payroll from Shouse’s time, 2014 to 2022, by nearly $400,000.

Knox News also recently revealed how Biggs and his staff ride and travel in style, racking up travel expenses that well exceeded the county rate. In 2023 Biggs leased six new Ford Silverado 1500 pickup trucks equipped with four-wheel drive for which the county paid $397,968, about $200,000 more than what taxpayers pay for vehicles used by other county offices. GPS data, according to Knox News, shows trustee staff using county vehicles for personal use. Biggs says he has reimbursed the county $3,500 for excess expenses, though it is not clear if that is the total owed for all involved. The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasurer is investigating. Any follow up to that investigation will be handled by Blount County’s District Attorney.

Biggs, anticipating tough questions from Knox County commissioners, skipped an appearance before the finance committee, instead sending an office legal assistant. He nevertheless is seeking re-election to his $164,904 a year job. Most of the Republican establishment has been keeping some distance from his campaign; many likely prefer his primary opponent, Register of Deeds Nick McBride. Former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe has called on Biggs to resign.

Trustee shenanigans also likely affected our congressional delegation. From 2010 to 2013 our trustee was John Duncan, III, son and grandson of longtime congressmen John and Jimmy Duncan from Knox County. Most political wags thought the trustee gig was a stepping-stone to a third-generation run for Congress. Duncan, III, however, got in trouble by awarding bonuses for certification and training programs for himself and others on his staff; many of the courses had not actually been taken. Duncan, III resigned the day he pleaded guilty to felony misconduct in 2013; he received probation with an option for diversion. In 2014, a judge dismissed his case after he completed the diversion terms.

The biggest trustee scandal was that surrounding Mike Lowe, serving as trustee from 1994 to 2007. Lowe pleaded guilty to two counts of felony theft related to “ghost employees” — associates on the payroll who didn’t work. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said the scheme robbed county taxpayers of more than $750,000; the TBI also said these associates kicked back some of the money to Lowe. The former trustee, years after leaving office, also admitted to funneling title work to an associate who would overcharge the county, and give Lowe a cut of that, too.

Lowe was sentenced to ten years in prison, but was behind bars for roughly seven months before the rest of his sentence was changed to supervised probation.

Shouse ended 34 years of public service on Aug. 31, 2022. His eight years of integrity as trustee mirrored similar upstanding behavior in other public offices. When selecting a trustee or other position of trust, one good guide is to look for trustworthy behavior and proven integrity, someone who knows it’s not his money, to use Shouse’s words.

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[1] Url: https://tennesseelookout.com/2025/06/03/knox-county-lessons-about-a-trustworthy-trustee/

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