KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The superintendent of Knox County’s juvenile detention center, Richard L. Bean, announced his retirement Friday following Mayor Glenn Jacobs' calls for a state takeover amid concerns about management and safety at the facility that bears his name.

He said his resignation is effective Aug. 1.

In a press release and a letter addressed to the chair of the center's board of trustees, Bean said it's been his honor to serve in the role since 1972, but that he was "dismayed and disappointed by the rush to judgement by the Mayor, Judge Irwin and other county leaders as result of personnel decision I recently made."

Earlier this week, Jacobs asked Gov. Bill Lee to have the state temporarily assume control of the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Detention Center after nurse Stefani Clowers raised concerns about care for juveniles, including medication management.

Bean fired Clowers this week, a move Jacobs described as retaliation for whistleblowing. Under pressure from Jacobs, Bean reinstated Clowers and another employee.

The mayor said Clowers' temporary firing left the facility without medical personnel. But the board overseeing the facility objected to that, noting an LPN is also on staff.

"An employee of the Center that I believed was not only underperforming, but adversely affecting the day-to-day management of the Center was fired," Bean wrote Friday's resignation letter. "The center is understaffed. I have been working hard to recruit competent personnel to work...

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