Small Community Starts Police Department—Again

After years of relying on Carter County officers to protect citizens a small town is starting its own police department.

In two weeks the Carter County will no longer patrol or have jurisdiction over the City of Watauga.

“We tried to re-negotiate the contract and re-new the services,” said Carter County Sheriff Chris Mathes. “The City of Watauga elected not to re-new the contract and start their own police department.“

This comes after three months of negotiations.

Watauga decided it will not pay the Carter County Sheriff’s Office $64,000 a year to have deputies patrol their streets.

Instead, they will hire their own police—hich they have the right to do.

“The City of Watauga is a municipality—just like the City of Elizabethton, the City of Erwin or the City of Johnson City,“ Mathes explained.

Incorporated in 1960, Watauga was a small community that wanted to be its own town. It’s so small, in the year 2000, the US Census Bureau only counted 403 people who call it home.

The City of Watauga has only a four-mile radius.

Up until recent memory, the folks who live there had their own police department; but during the last sheriff’s administration, Watauga agreed to pay Carter County $26,000 to have deputies take care of their law enforcement for them.

That contract never changed, but the cost of everything else did.

Between fuel expenses, maintenance and training, Carter County wasn’t breaking even on the deal. “We were spending over $101,000 a year for the City of Watauga out of my budget, “ Sheriff Mathes said, “and in return was only getting $26,000 and the use of two vehicles in return.“

The sheriff’s office said it could no longer afford the arrangement. “It should be something that we actually make money off of because it’s not our responsibility,“ Mathes told News Channel 11.

Watauga’s City Manager says when the sheriff asked for more money, her small community decided to just start up their own department again.

Though it may not be a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week-kind-of-outfit, both Carter County and the City of Watauga said they’re going to come out ahead.

The Watauga Police Department will be back open on June first.
   
The city manager says they will have one full time officer and one part time, though they haven’t figured out the schedules yet.