Ethics Commission dismisses complaint against Republican rep.; threatens complainants with penalties

Yahoo

22-04-2025

An ethics complaint against Clarksville Republican Rep. Aron Maberry was dismissed by the Tennessee Ethics Commission on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (Photo: John Partipilo)
The Tennessee Ethics Commission on Tuesday unanimously threw out a complaint against a Montgomery County Republican representative and admonished those who filed it after determining that the commission lacked authority to consider the case.
The complaint, filed April 3 by a group of current and former educators in Montgomery County, said Clarksville Republican Rep. Aron Maberry's actions as a state representative violated his oath as a sitting Clarksville Montgomery County School Board member.
The complaint cites Maberry's vote in favor of House Bill 793 — which would allow school districts and charter schools to refuse to enroll students without permanent legal documentation — as a breach of his 'duty to provide equal education opportunities and to refrain from using his position for partisan gain.'
The measure itself is on hold over concerns that its contradiction of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1982 Plyler v. Doe ruling guaranteeing all children access to public education could result in Tennessee schools losing federal funding.
In an expedited hearing Tuesday morning, Commission Chair Tammy White said she was 'extremely disturbed' that the press obtained copies of the complaint before it was filed with the commission. She also warned the complainants that filing 'unsubstantiated complaints' could result in civil penalties against them.
'This body was not created to be used as a political pawn for headlines,' White said. 'There should be serious repercussions for those who act in such a manner as this. And while I do applaud everyone's political involvement and passion, matters like today should and can be resolved at the local ballot box.'
Tuesday's special-called hearing, which would typically be confidential, was open to the public at Maberry's request. The committee's next regularly scheduled meeting is in August, which the commission deemed too far in the future to allow a complaint of this nature to go undecided.
Bill Young, the commission's executive director, characterized the complaints as 'policy disagreements' and said staff determined that the commission did not have jurisdiction to decide qualifications for office or compliance with the ethics codes of local bodies. The constitutionality of policy is litigated in court, he said.
The Tennessee constitution does not prohibit individuals from serving as both a state representative and a school board member.
Commission Secretary Duane Gilbert said the complaint was a 'colossal waste of time, the state's resources and employees.'
The commission considered calling for a show-cause hearing to determine whether the complainants should be penalized for filing the complaint, but ultimately decided against it.
White and Commission member Stacey Floyd-Thomas said they did not want this complaint to set a precedent for others.
'Any further action in this manner would necessitate a show-cause hearing' where the complainants would be asked to show why their actions should not be considered reckless disregard, Floyd-Thomas said.
Joy Rice, a member of the group that filed the complaint, said she was 'shocked' at the commission's response.
'I didn't realize I would have to bring an attorney with me to an ethics complaint,' she said. 'I think … it's a bullying tactic to make sure that nobody else complains.'
Rice said the complaint was not based on Maberry serving in two seats, but rather that 'what he's doing in one seat affects the other one.'
'He took an oath for the Code of Ethics in the school board capacity to represent all children, and then he went to the state and immediately … attempted to pass legislation that went in direct violation of that,' Rice said.
Karen Reynolds, who also signed the complaint, said she was encouraged by a school board member to file the ethics complaint with the state because the school board lacks a formal ethics complaint policy.
'That's a lot of bullying up there, considering that basically they said they didn't have jurisdiction,' Reynolds said. 'We knew we would hit that wall, but I guess we didn't expect — basically they tried to silence us by saying, get a lawyer or shut up.'
Maberry, who was also present at the hearing, said he was grateful for the commission's decision on what he says is a 'partisan attack' against him led by someone who he believes is 'trying to stay politically relevant in the community.'
Reynolds, a Democrat, ran for the District 22 Tennessee Senate seat in 2024 but lost to Republican Bill Powers.
'Education and protecting CMCSS was the core reason that I ran for state senate, so I'm still going to stand up and do what I think is right for our schools and our children and our community,' Reynolds said.
Reynolds and Rice said their group will consider other paths available to them to pursue the complaint.
Maberry said every decision he's made on the school board is 'to better our public schools,' and his constituents at the state level voted him into office knowing that he intended to keep his school board seat. He does not plan to resign from the school board.
'I believe the message was sent clearly to Tennessee that if you're going to come after somebody that's duly elected and make up complaints against them, that you yourself need to make sure that it's an actual complaint, because you could be breaking state law,' he said.