Knoxville, Tenn. — The ongoing lawsuit concerning the Uniformed Officers Pension Plan (UOPP) was successfully mediated last week and will finally come to an official close with a settlement hearing at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 20.

Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs said, “I would like to thank Knox County Commission Chair Nystrom, Vice Chair Carringer and Commissioners Smith, Anders, Jay and Biggs who, at the special called meeting, voted for this lawsuit to come to an end at my request.

I also want to express gratitude to Jay Fader and Rob Frost from Arnett, Draper and Hagood, who represented the county during mediation; Chancellor Darryl Fansler, who led mediation; and attorneys Steven Garrett, Al Holifield and Herbert Moncier for prudently representing not only the class, but the current officers and Renee Ricker, widow of Dennis Ricker. In addition to their diligent work, these attorneys heavily discounted their fees in service to the county illustrating a keener interest in protecting the officers than in personal gain.”