On this page, you can read up on some of the most frequently asked questions about the Knox Charter Petition initiative, what it hopes to accomplish, and how it will go about bringing the public's recommendations to the ballot in August 2008. If you don't see your question listed, feel free to contact us with your inquiry!

• What is the Knox County Charter? It is the document that defines how Knox County Government is legally structured. In January 2007, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that Knox County can legally amend its charter and make changes to the structure of its government.
• How can the Charter be changed? There are three ways to change the Knox County Charter. The first is the County Mayor may initiate a Charter Commission to recommend changes. Any proposed amendments must be approved by County Commission and would then be place on the ballot for the next regular election. The second is the County Commission may place Charter amendments on the ballot for the next regular election. The third? Citizens can place proposed Charter amendments on the ballot by petition. In order to place the proposed Charter amendments on the ballot for the 2008 General Election, at least 15% of Knox County voters must sign petitions asking that the Charter changes be placed on the ballot - which is exactly what our group is doing.
• Does signing the petition mean I have to agree with every proposed change? Absolutely not! Signing the petition only means that you agree the public should be given the opportunity to decide which of the proposals should be enacted. The petition process will create two separate voting items - one containing the amendments that will restructure the legislative branch (i.e. the Commission), and one that will contain the measures that will affect the executive branch (Mayor's office, fee offices, etc.) On Voting Day, you can pick and choose either, both, or none of the item sets. KCP only feels that the people should be given the opportunity to decide.
• Is this a metro government initiative? No. While the Knox County-One Question final report recommends sweeping changes in the structure of government it does not call for the merger of City and County governments. The Howard Baker Center study of County Governments found that only about 1% of Counties in the U.S. have "metro" or "unified" government. Most communities have found ways to maintain trust, efficiency and citizen-access to their local governments without adopting metro or unified government.
• Do all the recommendations in the Knox County-One Question final report require changes in the Charter? No. The report recommends the creation of an Independent Commission to review duplicate functions of City and County governments and that steps be taken to improve citizen access to government. Neither of these requires a change in the Charter to implement.
• Who came up with these ideas? The all-volunteer group Knox County-One Question spent several months listening to the public and gathering information about the structure of government in communities similar to ours before issuing its final report. The proposed Charter change language is taken directly from that report.
• What can the average citizen do now? Well, the average citizen can sign the petition, but we consider those who volunteer to bring this to a public vote to be in the above-average category!
• Can I sign the Charter Petition online? Unfortunately, no. State law requires that referendum petitions be signed in person by registered voters.
• Can I download a copy of the Charter Petition and take it around my neighborhood to get signatures? We thought about it, but in the end we decided against this approach. There have been numerous instances of groups that have attempted to sabotage petition efforts like these in the past, so we decided to maintain a certain level of control over the process. However, if you decide you'd like to volunteer to help collect signatures, you'd be able to canvass for us that way - and we'd appreciate the help!