KCSO adds 54 new cars, bus to fleet

Sheriff Jones

The Man with the Badge? Naw, more like, the da Man with the Car.

Knox County Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones sent out a small release yesterday evening, noting that his office will add 54 new cars and one 34-passenger, bad-guy-hauling bus to the KSCO fleet. The department will use 2014 Dodge Chargers for patrol and unmarked 2014 Chevrolet Impalas for detectives.

The sheriff had asked Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett to include 80 cars in his proposed budget. The mayor put in 25 and the bus. The plan now is to use some left over surplus coin to pay for another 29 cars.

The sheriff said if he could get between 50 to 55 cars a year, he wouldn't fret as much about the fleet. As it is right now, he said, most of the cars have more than 100,000 miles of “hard” mileage on them and the upkeep is starting to cost more in the long-term than just buying new ones.