Bradley County Sheriff Eric Watson announced to the county commission that his department now had 217 employees, having created several new positions.
Sheriff Watson said the department was able to do this through budgeting more efficiently.
He also said, "The day shift will have 19 uniformed officers."
County Commissioner Charlotte Peak asked him why his department was not receiving the governor's highway safety grant of $30,000 this year.
She said the money had been used in the past to pay employee overtime.
Sheriff Watson said the previous administration did not submit the paperwork on time, but that he would see if there was some way to be able to submit it late.
He said, "It's embarrassing."
During the meeting, Rhea County resident June Griffin also presented Sheriff Watson with what she called the "Three Keys to Americanism," a framed version of the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Ten Commandments.
She said, "These are the keys to your liberty."
She told the commission, "The sheriff you elected is a fine man."
A resolution to lower IT costs was also put on the agenda for the next voting session. It was stated that four percent of the current budget is spent on IT.
The Bradley County SPCA Board of Directors met before the commission.
Board member Chris Turner said the weekend before last, 36 animals had been adopted.
While it was stated that adoptions exceeded intake on Monday, new board president and former county commissioner Ed Elkins said, for anyone interested, "We have a lot of small kittens."
President Elkins said, "I just want to reiterate something I said early on. We have a lot of people interested in the welfare of the animals. We must come together and work in harmony to that end."