Report: Rep. Scotty Campbell resigns after House policy violation
UPDATE, 5 p.m. EST
According to Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, District 3 Rep. Scotty Campbell handed in a resignation letter on Thursday afternoon that the speaker said he accepted.
Sexton said the resignation was effective immediately.
Officials in Mountain City can appoint a representative to fill Campbell’s vacancy. A special election will be held later in the year for a permanent House seat.
Campbell’s resignation after TV station WTVF filed a Freedom of Information Act request for a copy of the report issued by the Workplace Discrimination and Harassment Committee last month that was in Campbell’s personnel file. The committee’s decision was Campbell had committed a policy violation.
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UPDATE, 3:50 p.m. EST
News Channel 5’s Phil Williams reported Rep. Scotty Campbell of Mountain City has resigned from the Tennessee House.
🚨BREAKING 🚨
Six hours after we first confronted Republican Rep. Scotty Campbell, he has now RESIGNED! https://t.co/IHJkyWuYAR— Phil Williams (@NC5PhilWilliams) April 20, 2023
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District 3 Rep. Scotty Campbell of Mountain City told a state House reporter Thursday morning he will not resign following a published report of a policy violation involving a female intern.
News Channel 5 of Nashville first reported the March 29th result of the Workplace Discrimination and Harassment Committee that Campbell violated policy. Campbell told the station that the conversations with the woman were consensual and private.
Tennessee Rep. Scotty Campbell, vice-chair of the House Republican Caucus, tells @stockard_sam he will not resign despite internal findings he sexually harassed interns.https://t.co/AFDJnA8Cuy
— Tennessee Lookout (@TNLookout) April 20, 2023
The WTVF report said thousands of dollars were spent to move the intern out of the apartment complex where Campbell also resided, acquire hotel accommodations for her for the remainder of the General Assembly session, and to have her furniture shipped back to her family home.
Campbell has not been publically reprimanded for the violation and it is not known if he has lost any committee membership or his title as Vice Chair of the Republican House Caucus.
Tennessee House policy requires the violation to become a part of Campbell’s record. The bipartisan committee members who made the ruling on Campbell are not allowed to discuss the proceedings.
(IMAGE: Tennessee General Assembly)
