The Hatch Act, which was enacted in 1939, amended twice and twice upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, is administered by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.

Intended to curtail political patronage, the federal law broadly regulates political activity by federal employees, and also by state and local employees who work for agencies that receive federal funds.

According to the Office of Special Counsel's Web site, www.osc.gov, "The Hatch Act restricts the political activity of individuals principally employed by state or local executive agencies and who work in connection with programs financed in whole or in part by federal loans or grants."

The Web site "offers examples of the types of programs which frequently receive financial assistance from the federal government: public health, public welfare, housing, urban renewal and area redevelopment, employment security, labor and industry training, public works, conservation, agricultural, civil defense, transportation, anti-poverty, and law enforcement programs."

Teachers and other educators are specifically exempted from the Hatch Act, according to the site.

The "state and local" section of the Office of Special Counsel Web site has a "frequently asked questions" page.

Answers on that page seem to apply the law broadly to employees of agencies that receive federal funding, whether or not the employee has oversight over the federal funds.

The Web site includes these key questions and answers:

* "Question: Can I be covered by the Hatch Act if my salary is not federally funded?

* "Answer: Yes. The Merit Systems Protection Board has held that the test of whether an employee is covered by the Hatch Act is whether, as a normal and foreseeable incident of his principal employment, the employee performs duties in connection with an activity financed in whole or in part by federal funds. Special Counsel v. Gallagher, 44 M.S.P.R. 57, 61 (1990). If an employee meets this standard, the source of the employee's salary is irrelevant. See Special Counsel v. Williams, 56 M.S.P.R. 277, 283-84 (1993), aff'd, Williams v. M.S.P.B., 55 F.3d 917 (4th Cir. 1995).

* "Question: I do not apply for or administer any federal grants or loans at my agency, and I have no authority or discretion over the federal funding my agency receives. Does that mean I am not subject to the Hatch Act?

* "Answer: Not necessarily. An officer or employee of a state or local agency is subject to the Hatch Act if, as a normal and foreseeable incident of his principal position or job, he performs duties in connection with an activity financed in whole or in part by federal funds."

According to the Office of Special Counsel's Web site, coverage under the Hatch Act is not dependent on whether the employee actually administers the funds or has policy duties with respect to them.

The federal office says that an employee may have other duties in connection with federally funded programs or activities, and thus may be covered by the Hatch Act, even though he does not apply for or administer federal loans or grants or have any authority or discretion over the federal funding.

The current Greene County Commission has two sheriff's deputies as members, Rennie Hopson and Robbie Morgan, both Republicans elected in 2006. Attempts to reach Morgan and Hopson on Friday were unsuccessful.

Both have picked up petitions they will need to file in order to qualify to run for re-election, but neither one had turned those petitions in to the Greene County Election Commission by Friday.

In addition, a number of candidates who have filed qualifying petitions to run for the county commission work for county government departments.

One candidate, Sonny Stanton, an employee of the Town of Greeneville in its public works department, who filed a qualifying petition in January to run for constable as a Republican in the 3rd District, withdrew his petition on Thursday, said Greene County Administrator of Elections Donna Burgner.

Stanton has run into the Hatch Act before. In 1990, Stanton, then employed at Greene Valley Developmental Center, was also running for constable, and two other GVDC employees, Buford Chamberlain and Willie West, were candidates for the county commission.

The state attorney general, asked for an opinion at that time, informed GVDC on April 2, 1990, that all three had to either stop campaigning, since they were already on the ballot, or resign from their jobs to continue to seek the elected positions.

In an interview Thursday, West said all three did stop campaigning, signed letters to that effect, and kept their jobs. However, although Chamberlain did not campaign, he was elected, West said, filling the seat that had been occupied by his wife, Louise "Chuck" Chamberlain, who chose not to seek re-election. West said state officials decided to let Buford Chamberlain (now deceased) serve anyway.

West is now a member of the Greene County Election Commission.

Calvin Hawkins, the field operations supervisor for Greene County EMS, has qualified to run for the county commission as a Republican in the 7th District.

Told that the Office of Special Counsel has said in an advisory opinion that a Sullivan County EMS employee cannot run because EMS receives large amounts of Medicare reimbursements, Hawkins declined to comment immediately.

Hawkins said he had heard differing opinions about whether the Hatch Act applies to his job, and had asked the county mayor about it, and been told that the county attorney was looking into it.

Detective Lt. David Crum of the Greeneville Police Department said he checked into whether the Hatch Act applies to him before he decided to qualify for an 8th County Commission District seat.

Crum said he does not administer any federal funds in his job, and his position is paid out of the city's general funds.

Crum said he also checked with another police officer who is a county commissioner in another county that has partisan commission elections. He said that officer told him that his county's law director said the Hatch Act did not apply to him.

"Unless I'm told differently by the Office of Special Counsel, I think I'm fine to run," Crum said.

Greeneville Police Officer Alan Dotson is also seeking to run for the county commission in the 8th District, but attempts to reach him on Friday were unsucessful.

Commissioner Bill Brown, who is also the director of the Greene County Emergency Management Agency, said he had also asked for an opinion from the county attorney.

Brown has filed a petition qualifying him to seek re-election to a fourth term on the commission.

"Right now, I'm still running, and until I'm advised differently by our county attorney, I think I should go forward and let the voters decide," Brown said.

Brown pointed out that although Greene County receives federal grants for emergency equipment, he does not decide how those grants are allocated or spent.

Those decisions are made by members of an eight-county council, Brown said, and although he is the council's secretary, he does not have a vote, though each of the county's sheriffs does vote.

Brown's salary is paid by the Greene County general fund, he said.

"If it's wrong for me to run again, I will withdraw," Brown said. "I will not do anything that's illegal -- never have, and I'm sure not going to start now."

Brown said he believes it's important to note that he has "been operating in good faith all this time," as have others who are now being told that perhaps the Hatch Act applies to them.

Gene Norton, an employee of Greene County General Sessions Court who has filed qualifying petitions to run for Register of Deeds in the Republican primary, said he does not believe the Hatch Act applies to him.

Norton said Greene County Juvenile Court receives some federal funding, but General Sessions Court, where he works, does not, and has a separate budget.

"I'm relying strictly on the county attorney," Norton said, who "assures me I'm okay."