Claiborne County Mayor Joe Brooks Dies in Motorcycle Accident

From WRIL The Big One -

Mayor Joe Brooks

Tragic news out of Claiborne County, Tennessee.

As we reported late Friday night July 24, 2026, there was a serious accident on Highway 33 in Union County involving a motorcycle at approximately 11:05pm.

According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the operator of the 2014 Harley-Davidson motorcycle, identified as 56-year-old Claiborne County Mayor Joe Brooks, was traveling northbound on Highway 33 in Union County between Beach Island Road and Sharps Chapel Road near the Claiborne County line.

While negotiating a curve prior to the Claiborne County line, Mr. Brooks failed to maintain his lane of travel, failed to negotiate the curve, and departed the roadway to the right striking the guardrail before re-entering the roadway. The motorcycle came to an uncontrolled final rest in the outside lane of northbound Highway 33.

Due to the severity of the accident, Joe Brooks was declared deceased on scene.

While inital reports stated others motorcycle riders were involved, Mr. Brooks was the only individual listed on the THP report.

Joe Brooks grew up in Claiborne County as a seventh generation farmer and after graduating high school, he served in the US Navy. After his service he attended college, worked on the family farm as well as sales and management. Joe went on to work in the mental health field.

He was elected to the office of County Mayor in August 2018 and was up for re-election this year.

Administrator of Elections Aaron Reed tells us he and the election commission are devastated at the news of this tremendous loss to the Claiborne County community. Mr. Reed says that Mayor Brooks, whether in his office capacity or simply as a friend, was always supportive of everything they did to serve the people of Claiborne County. They join the family in this extremely difficult time as they try to make sense of what has happened.

He also stated that as of now the August 6th election will continue as scheduled and any changes are pending the outcome of election results.

See less