Editing Hawkins County, Tennessee (section)

===Executive Branch===
The [[Tennessee Constitution]] provides for the election of an executive officer &ndash; now referred to as the [[County mayor|County Mayor]] &ndash; in each county. The County Mayor is elected by popular vote at the regular August election every four years, coinciding with the Governor's election, and may serve an unlimited number of terms. The County Mayor (formerly County Executive) is [[chief executive officer]] of the county. The County Mayor exercises a role of leadership in county government and is responsible for the county's fiscal management and other executive functions; however, the other principal officers of the county such as the Sheriff, Trustee, Assessor and most of the various Court Clerks are separately elected, responsible directly to the county's voters, and not under the direct supervision of the county mayor.

The County Mayor is the general agent of the county and may draw warrants upon the General Fund. The County Mayor has custody of county property not placed with other officers, and may also examine the accounts of county officers. The County Mayor is a nonvoting ''[[ex-officio]]'' member of the County Commission and of all its committees, and may be elected chairman of the county legislative body (a post that the County Mayor is not required to seek or accept). The County Mayor may call special meetings of the County Commission. Unless an optional general law or private act provides otherwise, the County Mayor compiles a budget for all county departments, offices, and agencies, which is presented to the County Commission.

The current mayor of Hawkins County is Mark DeWitte (R-Rogersville).