Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Ethics Complaints topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sumner County ethics committee acknowledges two complaints against commissioners, schedules Oct. 27 review
Summary
At its Sept. 15 meeting, the Sumner County Ethics and Conduct Committee formally received complaints filed against Commissioners Wynne and Mansfield, agreed to review them at a future meeting and set a follow-up session for Oct. 27 at 6 p.m.; a later motion to dismiss both complaints was made but not resolved.
The Sumner County Ethics and Conduct Committee on Sept. 15 acknowledged receipt of two formal complaints—one filed against Commissioner Wynne and another against Commissioner Mansfield—and set a follow-up meeting for Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. to review the filings.
Committee members voted to accept the two complaints into the committee record. Chairman Beckett told the committee, “New business item a, you all should have received the, complaint that's filed on commissioner, Wynne. That's pages 3 and 4, in your packet. And then also under b, you have a receipt or should have received complaint filed on commissioner Mansfield at pages 5 through 20.”
The committee voted by voice to “group and approve” receipt of both items. Chairman Beckett called for the motion and a second; the motion passed by voice vote.
Committee members discussed scheduling a fuller review and possible hearing. Legal counsel explained that the committee would examine whether the complaints constituted ethics violations under applicable state law and the committee’s standing rules, and that any recommendations the committee produced could go to the full county commission in November. Members described the Oct. 27 meeting as a time for discovery and to determine whether further action or a formal hearing was warranted.
During the meeting a commissioner moved to dismiss both complaints, saying the matters did not, in the mover’s view, fall within the committee’s ethics authority. Legal counsel responded that a dismissal could be entertained at the next meeting, and no final vote on dismissal occurred during the Sept. 15 session.
Other procedural business at the Sept. 15 meeting included routine approvals of the agenda and a motion to approve minutes “by form,” both adopted by voice vote, and an adjournment vote that concluded the session.
The committee packet listed the Wynne complaint at pages 3–4 and the Mansfield complaint at pages 5–20; the committee did not resolve the merits of either complaint at the Sept. 15 meeting and left substantive review for the October session.
