Cocke County Bailiff Fired; Charged With Assault

An incident in the Cocke County jail has led to the dismissal of a court bailiff. Last Wednesday morning, February 9th…a corrections officer was booking 43 year old Misty Rodriguez into jail for the stabbing of R.B. Toby in Cosby earlier that morning. During booking, Rodriguez began to question staff about her medication and became upset when told that would have to wait till she saw the nurse. An active citation warrant was found to be against Rodriguez and the corrections officer asked bailiff Bryan Hance to serve it. As Hance went to serve the warrant, Rodriguez became more upset about what the warrant was for. That led to a verbal altercation between bailiff Hance and Rodriguez. Then the 21 year old bailiff got behind Rodriguez, picked her up and carried down the hall, then shoved Rodriguez into the cell causing her to stumble and fall approximately 12 feet hitting her head against the wall, causing several bruises and a chipped tooth. After a preliminary investigation, Hance was charged with assault and has been terminated as a county court officer. Hance, who is from Parrottsville, was on new hire probation and had previously worked in the detention center. He is due in court on February 23.