Tim Burchett

Roadkill

In 1999, Burchett received national media attention for sponsoring a bill to legalize the eating of roadkill, that is, wild animals killed by vehicles, before notifying the county game warden.^[9][10] He defended the proposal as a "common-sense thing" intended to prevent edible meat from being wasted. Eating roadkill was already legal – as it is in most places – but required prior notification to the county game warden. Burchett's bill allowed processing and consumption of roadkill before notifying the game warden. Burchett proposed the bill after being contacted by a constituent who had been penalized for giving a needy family the meat from a deer that his vehicle had accidentally hit on the highway.^[10]

Salvia divinorum

Senator Burchett sponsored a bill in 2006 to make illegal "possessing, producing, manufacturing, distributing, or possessing with intent to produce, manufacture, or distribute the active chemical ingredient in the hallucinogenic plant Salvia divinorum in the state of Tennessee."^[11] Burchett stated, "We have enough problems with illegal drugs as it is without people promoting getting high from some glorified weed that's been brought up from Mexico. The only people I’ve heard from who are opposed to making it illegal are those who are getting stoned on it."^[12] The bill was signed into law on May 19, 2006 and went into effect on July 1, 2006.^[11] Burchett originally wanted to make violations a felony offense, but the bill was amended during its passage to make it a Class A misdemeanor.^[13]

In a news report published shortly before the signing of the bill by Governor Phil Bredesen, Burchett was quoted as saying, "It's not that popular. But I'm one of those who believes in closing the barn door before the cows get out.... In certain hands, it could be very dangerous, even lethal."^[14] A store owner who had stopped selling the herb due to Burchett's bill said that he saw little point in banning salvia, "I have no idea why it's being outlawed. It's a sage. People in South America have been using it for years and years." The same report also gave the general counterargument of salvia proponents that legislation banning Salvia divinorum reflects a cultural bias, as there are fewer prohibitions on more addictive substances such as alcohol and nicotine, and questioned how effective the bill will be, pointing out that Salvia divinorum has no odor and is easy to grow, so enforcement will be difficult.^[14]

Campaign finance irregularities

In 2006, Burchett, then a state senator, failed to report six political action committee checks totaling $3,300. The Registry of Election Finance did not fine him.^[21]

Two years later, in 2008, while still a State Senator, he was fined $250 for failing to disclose three PAC contributions that totaled $1,500.^[21]

In 2012, an investigation into campaign finance irregularities involving Burchett's Knox County mayoral campaign fund began after the Knoxville News Sentinel published discrepancies in the campaign's financial reporting.^[22]

Independent freelance writer Pam Strickland filed a citizen complaint with the Tennessee State Ethics Board. Strickland writes a weekly column for the News Sentinel. On September 6, 2012 a "show cause" was issued by the Tennessee State Board of Ethics. The vote was 4-1.^[23]

Burchett blamed this third offence on his spouse, who had filed for divorce. He was not married during the first two offences. Unlike the first two offenses, a full audit and investigation was ordered on this third offense, revealing that almost $20,000 in campaign money had been misappropriated for personal use. On October 23, 2012 the State Board of Ethics decided to take no action against Burchett due to multiple corrective measures that were added before the meeting.^[24]

In February 2018 the Knoxville News Sentinel reported that Burchett had failed to report a $10,000 payment from a solar electric company to him on his campaign finance forms and various financial disclosure forms. The story reported that two months earlier the FBI had questioned people regarding Burchett committing income tax evasion.^[25]

After the story broke, Burchett gave a statement to WBIR that he was correcting errors in his campaign financial disclosures and income tax forms, describing his failure to report all income as an "oversight".^[26]

In 2013 and after his divorce, $900 in cash was left by an unnamed person for Mayor Burchett on April 1, 2013. He was out of town and asked his chief executive assistant, Diana Wilson, to deposit the money in his personal account. The bank was closed, so she placed the money in an envelope and left it under the mat on Burchett's desk. The next morning, Wilson discovered that the money was missing, and notified the authorities immediately. After days of investigating, the money was not found and no suspects had developed. The local authorities notified the mayor's chief of staff that they needed to interview all the mayor's staff members. A few hours after being notified of this, the police were notified by Burchett's office that the money had been found. The police wanted to give polygraphs to two members of Burchett's staff. He refused to allow polygraphs, and ended the investigation.^[27]

Twitter incident

Burchett received negative media attention in November 2012 for an item he posted on Twitter. During a football game that the Tennessee Volunteers were losing, he tweeted that he needed to get his nephew (a high school football player who hoped to be recruited by a university football program) "some tats and a criminal record so UT will be interested." Following public criticism of the tweet that criticized the football team of the university in his county, Burchett said: "I didn't think anyone read that stupid thing. It was probably up for about five minutes."^[28]