Little known citizen rights told to RCF by Hammond
Mike Hammond, Knox Count Criminal Court clerk, told Rotary Club of Farragut members “there is,” during the club’s meeting in Farragut Community Center Wednesday, Aug. 21.
“A lot of people don’t realize we have a division that helps people get their driver’s license reinstated,” he said. “We have 70,000 people in Knox County who are driving on revoked or suspended licenses.
“We’re No. 2 in the state, but we have developed a division to help them get their license back,” Hammond added.
However, “it’s not an easy thing where people can come in and say, ‘Oh well, I want to come get my license;’ no — you have to go through a process, and a judge has to approve it,” he said.
“The second thing we do is expungements,” Hammond added. “People who have done something 10, 15, 20 years ago — everybody makes mistakes — we now have expungement court every Thursday, and anybody can come down and pull their record if its eligible, and we help them do that.
“That’s important because if people (are) getting a job and they do a criminal background check, if it shows up on your background check, that might hinder you. But, if it’s expunged, your record’s clean.”
He noted these expungements are not eligible for people facing more serious crimes, such as sexual offenses.
“There are cases that are not eligible,” Hammond said, adding cases that are eligible are mainly misdemeanors and lower level-type crimes, such as public intoxication.
“So, we do all those things in addition to the regular courts,” Hammond added.
Most people “are scared to death when they come to court because usually in their mind, they’ve done something wrong … that’s natural,” he observed. “What we try to do is we have videos for people to help them get through that.”
Before becoming Criminal Court Clerk, Hammond was a radio personality who also was the public address voice of Food City Center (formerly Thompson-Boling Arena).
“I tell people that when I was in the radio business, I saw the best of Knox County — people like you, very interested in their community; they wanted to see their community do better … . But “Since I have been the Criminal Court clerk, I have seen the worst of Knox County,” he said. “I had no idea the extent of crime and criminals in Knox County.”
The Criminal Court sees from 500 to 700 cases every day, according to Hammond.
In Family Court, “we will have anywhere from 80 to 100 (order of protection) cases every single Thursday involving domestic violence,” Hammond said. “There is a domestic violence call in Knox County every 28 minutes.
“So, that court stays extremely busy,” he added.
In General Sessions Criminal Court, there are five judges who decide whether a case goes to Criminal Court.
Hammond said those cases involve everything from littering on the sidewalk to first-degree murder.
