FARRAGUT, TENN. — Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler accused Farragut Mayor Ron Williams of lying in a television interview about law enforcement presence in the town following the relocation of a sheriff's precinct in October. Spangler demanded an apology from Williams in a letter obtained by WBIR.

The Knox County Sheriff's Office moved its precinct out of Turkey Creek in October. In response, Williams wrote a letter to Spangler in March expressing concerns about law enforcement presence in Farragut. "Knowing that the patrol duties of the deputies in the Town of Farragut have not changed and knowing the reason for the precinct move was entirely economic, you chose to go on television and lie," Spangler wrote in the letter.

Williams said the sheriff was not returning his calls or attending meetings about the precinct relocation issue. He said his concerns are tied to the visibility of law enforcement in the community rather than the quality of service residents receive. "We pay our property tax, and out of that property tax we're supposed to have police protection, and we have none," Williams said in May. "We have no complaints with the type of protection we have when we have it. It's just that we no longer have the police out here like what we had before."

He said he had a meeting with sheriff's office leaders after the precinct moved, but never with Spangler. He said he would not apologize and argued that the larger issue is a lack of communication between the sheriff's office and town leaders. "I don't think I have anything to apologize for," he said. "Lack of communication is the big problem. They need to apologize. That's where it needs to come from."

Kimberly Glenn, spokesperson for the Knox County Sheriff's Office, said patrol coverage in Farragut has not changed. "Despite the precinct's closure in Farragut, our ability to respond to calls for service remains unchanged," she said. She added that deputies are dispatched through the county's E-911 system rather than through a specific precinct. A new precinct will open in Cedar Bluff in around two weeks to serve all of West Knox County.