KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Owners of the El Tequila Bar and Grill have obtained a lawyer to represent them after several incidents inside and outside the business caused some concern for county officials. Those owners have been asked to attend a beer board meeting, a county commissioner said.

Knox County Commissioner Larsen Jay confirms that the county commission voted during their work session to try and get representatives from El Tequila Bar and Grill to attend the beer board meeting in June to discuss those concerns. This comes after a recent incident in which one person was arrested after a shooting in the parking lot earlier this month.

Attorney T. Scott Jones, who has been hired to represent El Tequila, said the business is “entitled to the same due process as any other business operating in Knox County, Tennessee.”

“What I think everybody needs to understand is El Tequila has not been charged with anything nor have they received what you would normally consider to be a citation or violation of the law in any shape, manner, or form. So we can certainly understand and empathize with the concerns of the Beer Board, particularly the County Commission relative to the matter, but as El Tequila stands here, we’re merely appearing as a courtesy to the Beer Board, we’ve not been summoned to respond to any actual particular allegations,” said Jones.

The next beer board meeting is June 20 at 4 pm.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office shared with WATE on May 8 that El Tequila has been at the center of a dozen incident reports since January 1, 2022. The reports range from theft to vandalism to assault. There was also one incident that resulted in five arrests being made at the bar on October 02, 2022.