Johnson City municipal attorney James Epps III died at home on Friday after a long battle with cancer. He was 71. Epps was the longest serving municipal attorney in the state and among the longest tenured in the nation. He represented Johnson City for 41 years. In that time he worked with more than 20 different incarnations of the City Commission. City officials say they often looked to Epps not only for legal opinions but also for his knowledge of the city’s history. Mayor Phil Roe said for four decades Epps was involved in practically every major political decision the city made.