County commission to consider seizing zoning power from Johnson City, Jonesborough

Editorial Note: This story published on Monday, May 18, 2026 contained incorrect information on a Washington County resolution's effective date. The resolution giving planning and zoning jurisdiction back to Washington County will go into effect after it is signed by Gov. Bill Lee. The Washington County Commission will meet on Monday to consider adopting new state law which would draw back the jurisdiction municipalities have regarding planning and zoning. The commission will also consider up to $800,000 in funding for the Washington County Sheriff's Office to replace its data server system. Planning and zoning A new state law passed during the 114th General Assembly allows counties with a census population of less than 341,500 to takeover municipalities jurisdiction within its urban growth boundaries regarding any planning and zoning decisions. The passing of this resolution would strip both Johnson City and Jonesborough's authority to adopt a zoning plan, ordinance, rule or regional zoning ordinance. Both municipalities would also lose jurisdiction over zoning, including development, infrastructure or land use outside of its city limits. With that, the county would gain jurisdiction of all planning and zoning decisions in unincorporated areas including within the municipalities urban growth areas which were created in 2000. If approved, it does not give the county planning and zoning jurisdiction within Jonesborough and Johnson City's city limits. The resolution comes as a recommendation from the county's commercial, industrial and agricultural committee and would become effective immediately after receiving a signature from Gov. Bill Lee. WCSO data system upgrade The resolution to replace the server system at the WCSO comes as a recommendation from the budget committee. The onsite data center runs 12 major servers used daily. These servers contain record management, agency file storage, domain controls, network access, case files and more. The server system upgrade was originally included in the WCSO's upcoming fiscal year budget, but with costs increasing rapidly the need needs to be met sooner. Washington County Sheriff Keith Sexton said the upgrade is needed due to lack of storage and the system's age. A quote of $420,000 was given to the WCSO at the end of February. The cost has since doubled due to increasing supply and demand of the parts needed to upgrade the system as a result of the growth of artificial intelligence. If approved, the funds of up to $800,000 for the upgrade will come out of the county's current fiscal year capital fund project. Other agenda items The commission will consider a total of 18 resolutions at its monthly meeting. Also on the agenda for the commission's consideration includes, but is not limited to, an inter-local agreement between Johnson City and Washington County fire departments for fire protection assistance and allocating up to $57,488 in funds for the Emergency Management Agency to purchase lock boxes. The resolution, recommended by the public safety committee, for EMA to spend more than $57,000 would replace 21 out of date Knox Boxes for all county volunteer fire departments. A Knox Box is a lock box which holds keys to certain buildings and institutions including Washington County Schools. Director of EMA Evan Clayburn said this prevents doors having to be broken down in the case of an emergency. The current Knox Box's located at the county's fire stations are out of date and no longer work with the software being used by the producer. If approved by the full commission, the funds to purchase two lock boxes for all county VFD will come out of the county's general fund. The resolution also includes a three-year maintenance subscription for the lock boxes. The maintenance expenses will come out of the EMA's current fiscal year budget. The full commission will convene on Monday at 6 p.m. in courtroom seven of the George P. Jaynes Justice Center. To view the full agenda, visit the Washington County's website at washingtoncountytn.org/AgendaCenter.