In a legal opinion dated Sept. 30, a Knoxville lawyer told Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp that he could dismiss County Attorney Rheubin Taylor without support from the County Commission and that Taylor’s four-year contract with the county was likely unenforceable.
“That being said, only the courts can provide a definitive resolution of this question,” Dwight Tarwater, who previously served as general counsel to Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, wrote in a letter to the mayor’s office. He’s now part of the firm Paine, Tarwater, & Bickers LLP.
In a news release issued late Friday afternoon, Wamp’s office said that the mayor had notified Taylor that he did not intend to reappoint him to that role, removing him from that position effective immediately. Taylor had no comment on the mayor’s decision when reached by phone on Friday.
On June 16, 2021, the County Commission passed a resolution permitting the then-county mayor, Jim Coppinger, to reappoint Taylor as Hamilton County attorney. The panel approved a contract with a four-year term lasting from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2025.