KNOXVILLE, Tenn — A North Knox County restaurant and bar that lost its local beer license in August argues it should get the permit back because county leaders botched the revocation hearing.
Attorney T. Scott Jones filed a motion for summary judgment Dec. 20 on behalf of El Tequila Bar & Grill in Knox County Chancery Court, the legal pathway to counter the county Beer Board's revocation. Knox County Commission's functions include acting as the local beer board to approve or revoke beer licenses in the county.
Jones said El Tequila continues to operate on Maynardville Highway in the Halls area. It maintains a state liquor license and is in good standing, Jones said.
Jones argues the Beer Board failed to prove legally that the business should have its local beer license taken away.
It didn't show that the business was being operated in a poor or threatening manner or that it had violated any laws in its operation, he said. It didn't overserve patrons, the business argues.
Rather, some county commissioners merely acted to mollify the complaints of a few citizens after a disturbance that had occurred outside the restaurant in the spring, the attorney argues.
The county and Knox County Sheriff's Office also failed to maintain basic records and follow basic required procedures when the Beer Board moved to take away the beer permit, El Tequila argues.
It'll be up to a Knox County chancellor to sort through the arguments and determine whether the Beer Board acted legally.
KCSO argued the restaurant and bar had a history of disturbances that raised the ire and threatened the safety of area residents.
Records from the Knox County Emergency Communications District E-911 showed first responders received more than 50 calls for service involving the business from April 2022 to May 2023, and 16 of those calls happened in 2023.
In May, a shooting took place in the parking lot outside the business, prompting a renewed push by county leaders to act.
In a Knox County Beer Board meeting in December 2022, KCSO Lt. Tom Walker talked about the problems at El Tequila. He said in a four-month span, from July 1, 2022, to Nov. 10, 2022, El Tequila had 31 calls for service. Most of those calls were for fights, medical issues or thefts, according to Walker.
A county commissioner noted this summer that the business had in the past been fined $1,500 by the state Alcoholic Beverage Commission.