02/12/2026
In keeping our continued dedication to transparency and strengthening relations with the communities we serve, the Sheriff’s Office would like to provide the 2025 Year-End Report prepared by Sheriff Bill Phillips for the County Commission and the citizens of Sequatchie County.
2025 Year End Report to the County Commission
Your Sequatchie County Sheriff’s Office has had another great year of maturity and advancement toward the improvements we continue to work for each and every day. It is only through the assistance and support of this legislative body, the County Executive, and the citizens of this great county that we can continue our progress. I am pleased to present to you our annual year-end report as a recap of the previous year.
For starters, we changed our patrol uniform to something much more updated and more conducive to the work the men and women of our agency are doing during a regular shift. The uniform not only has a great look but it also requires the wearing of a bullet proof vest more frequently. This change, much like the change in the vehicle striping, has been a very positive one for our agency providing a great appearance, comfort, and safety for our deputies.
The transition to iSOMS as our reporting system was completed improving our ability to maintain information related to cases assigned and reporting that information to the State of Tennessee, among other valuable benefits to our staff, the agency, and our county, preparing our agency for the law enforcement requirements of current times. This critical and beneficial advancement of our agency was achieved with funds from sales of seized and otherwise awarded property, saving the tax payers from the cost.
Training: Aside from the standard annual In-Service type training for the previous year, three deputies completed an Instructor Development Course, one deputy completed a Fi****ms Instructor Class and one deputy completed a T-SAR Search and Rescue Man Tracking Course. Two deputies completed the TN-SRO Conference and one completed the SRO Basic Course. Two of our deputies attended the TN. Law Enforcement Training Officers Conference and both of our Chiefs completed the Tennessee New Chief Deputy Training. One deputy completed the Chattanooga Police Department’s Training Academy and one completed the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy while one other completed the Tennessee Law Enforcement Officers Transition Course.
On the investigative side of the house, two investigators completed a Crime Scene Investigations course while one completed a Basic Investigations Course. One investigator attended the M**h Recertification Course and one completed an Overdose Death Investigations Course.
Both civilian employees completed a T.I.B.R.S. recertification course and one also completed a Data Collection course.
The Criminal Investigations Division was busy this year with three homicides investigated along with all of the other cases they work regularly. Our staff performed amazingly through these times with a high clearance rate of all cases worked, including all three homicides. In fact, there was only one other homicide reported in our county since I took this office for a total of four homicides. Our investigators have cleared all of those cases giving them a clearance rate of 100%. But it doesn’t stop there, working with a T.B.I. agent assigned to our county, our investigators solved a homicide from 2020, prior to my administration, giving them an adjusted clearance rate of 125%. All charges on all defendants in all cases are still pending in a court of law and I am proud of the work these men and women have put forth to accomplish this success.
I was honored to make my presentation on “Investigating the Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer” to a large crowd of law enforcement administrators at this past year’s Tennessee Sheriff’s Association Summer Conference. This is a presentation I was asked to create more than a decade ago for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s State Re-trainers and I have had the honor of presenting it in various cities and states to multiple agencies and organizations. The presentation addresses many of the critical issues an agency will encounter while investigating such an event with case study from actual law enforcement murder investigations throughout my career as well as dealing with the political environment issues that affects the ability of law enforcement to protect themselves in deadly situations and puts them at risk of unjust punishment, including wrongful prosecutions. I was honored to represent the Sequatchie County Sheriff’s Office as I made this presentation to the majority of our state’s sheriffs as well as their command staff along with administrative staff from the T.B.I., the Tennessee Homeland Security Office, the Governor’s Public Safety Office, the F.B.I., the U.S. Marshal’s Service and others.
Our jail continues to impress with amazing accomplishments. This year’s annual T.C.I. inspection was completed with no deficiencies, a very difficult task, once again. Also, this year’s accreditation inspection was successful, earning our jail another year of accreditation. Very few jails are able to achieve accreditation and our jail continues to maintain their status as if it is just another day at the office. We continue to add programs for the inmates to improve their rehabilitative status, addressing educational, mental, social, and drug treatment measures. We currently are up to 22 inmates having earned their G.E.D. and for several of them, this is the first major achievement in their lives since they became addicted at an early age. We believe this accomplishment can build confidence and give them the advantage of being able to check that box on that next work application, providing them a higher probability of success once leaving our facility. For several months now we have realized a lower number of inmates per day than the average for the past several years. We believe these efforts combined with the law enforcement efforts of our patrol and investigative staff have contributed to achieving the current trend.
On the drug front, we have seen our numbers of overdoses drop, even while surrounding jurisdictions were experiencing a spike. In fact, I recently prepared the quarterly overdose report and we had only one overdose to report for this quarter. This overdose was alcohol related and did not involve our current epidemic. Again, we believe our efforts to address this issue from many angles through our SAFE program while working with our schools, the Opioid Committee, the local Recovery Court, and the citizens at large have contributed to this success and is saving lives, while providing a better future for those in our community. With this said, we should remember there were drugs in this county before any of us were born and there will be drugs here when we are all gone. This epidemic is extremely volatile and could blow up on us at any moment. We have to remain diligent in our efforts and continue to control the current crisis.
We recently received the results of our annual audit by the State of TN. Comptroller’s Office and, once again, received no findings. This is more evidence that our agency has set a standard of doing things right and continues to work to achieve these results. I am thankful to Desere Dent, our Administrative Assistant, who handles much of the administrative transactions and books that are under microscope during this time. We also have measures in place to check and double check the evidence logging and storage, the use and handling of drug funds, and many other categories that are well maintained by other members of our staff. All of these people do an amazing job resulting in the successful outcome of our inspections.
In closing, I can tell you with absolute confidence that the state of your Sequatchie County Sheriff’s Office is very healthy. The continuous increase of professionalism and well-maintained channels of accountability, combined with the great people of our agency who care about this county and its citizens has resulted in a much-improved law enforcement agency with abilities and capabilities beyond what many of us may have even dreamed as a possibility. I am extremely proud of the men and women who work daily to serve this county and I am very thankful to this legislative body, this County Executive, and the people of this county who have supported our efforts along the way.
Sheriff Bill Phillips
1-26-26
