Sevier County has hired its first head building inspector at the county commission meeting Monday evening. With the exception of Commissioner Jimbo Conner, the vote was unanimous.

Christopher Jenkins, owner of Diamond J. Construction, has been building and remodeling homes for the past several years.

Prior to the commission’s vote, several members of the public opposed the Jenkins appointment stating, among other concerns, Jenkins didn’t hold a contractor’s license.

John Meyers, addressing the board stated, “The only license I’ve been able to find for the candidate (Jenkins) was one of a security guard several years ago. He has no experience as a building inspector in an official capacity and as far as I can tell, he has no experience supervising building inspectors.”

Meyers went on to state that he felt the Building Director should have experience working in a building department. Meyer’s claims Jenkins has no experience setting up a building department or any other department in any county government.

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