The ethical complaints against Clarksville Republican Rep. Aron Mabury were rejected by the Tennessee Ethics Committee on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 (Photo: John Partipillo)

The Tennessee Ethics Committee unanimously abandoned it on Tuesday Complaints against Montgomery County Republican Representatives It warned those who submitted it after the committee determined it was not authorized to consider the case.

The complaint was filed by a group of current and former educators in Montgomery County on April 3, saying Clarksville Republican Rep. Aron Mabury violated his oath as a member of the Clarksville Montgomery County Board of Education for acting as a state representative.

The complaint supports Mabury’s vote House Bill 793 – This allows school districts and charter schools to refuse student registration without permanent legal documents. “As a violation of the obligation to provide equal educational opportunities and refrain from using his position for partisan interests.”

The measure itself is Pending Plylerv in 1982 on the US Supreme Court. The contradictions in the DOE ruling over concerns that Tennessee could guarantee that federal funds could be lost.

During a prompt hearing Tuesday morning, committee chairman Tammy White said that the press had obtained a copy of the complaint before it was submitted to the committee, “very disturbing.” She also warned the petitioners that filing “unproven 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 must be a serious impact on people who act in this way, and while I admire everyone’s political engagement and passion, issues like today can be resolved in our local ballot box.”

The special hearing on Tuesday, which would normally be confidential, was open to the public upon Mabury’s request. The committee’s next regular scheduled meeting was in August, and the committee considered it too far in the future to allow complaints of this nature to remain undecided.

Bill Young, the committee’s executive director, characterized the complaint as “disagreements on policy,” saying staff determined that the committee did not have jurisdiction to determine whether it qualifies for compliance with the duties or the code of ethics of the local institution. He said the constitutionality of the policy has been litigated in court.

The Tennessee Constitution does not prohibit individuals from serving both as state representatives and as members of the school board.

The Committee threatens actions against the petitioner

The Duane Gilbert Committee said the complaint was “a huge waste of the times, state resources and employees.”

The committee considered seeking a show cause hearing to determine whether the petitioner should be punished for filing a complaint, but ultimately opposed it.

White and committee member Stacey Floyd-Thomas said they did not want the complaint to set precedents for others.

“A further action in this way requires a hearing of the cause of the show,” the petitioner is asked to show why their actions should not be deemed recklessly ignored, Floyd Thomas said.

Joy Rice, a member of the group who filed the complaint, said she was “shocked” by the committee’s response.

“I didn’t realize I had to take my lawyer to an ethical complaint,” she said. “I think it’s a bullying tactic to make sure no one else complains.”

Rice said the complaint is not based on Mayberry in two seats, but that “what he’s doing in one seat affects the other seat.”

“He swore the ethics code of school boards representing all children, and he went to the state and immediately tried to pass a law that directly violated it,” Rice said.

Karen Reynolds, who signed the complaint, also said that the school board members were encouraged to file ethical complaints with the state because the school board lacks a formal ethical complaints policy.

“It’s a lot of bullying there, given that they basically said they don’t have jurisdiction,” Reynolds said. “We knew we were going to hit that wall, but I don’t think we were expecting it, basically, they tried to shut us up.

Mabury, who also attended the hearing, said he was grateful for the committee’s decision on what he was saying was a “partisan attack” led by someone who believes he is “trying to continue to be politically related to the community.”

Democrat Reynolds ran for the Tennessee Senate seat in District 22 in 2024, but lost to the Republican bill.

“Education and CMCS protection was the core reason I ran for the state Senate, so I’m still going to stand up and do what I think is appropriate for our school, our children and our community,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds and Rice said their group will consider other paths available to pursue the complaint.

Mabury said all decisions he made on the school board were “to improve our public schools,” and his constituents at the state level voted him for the job knowing he was going to maintain his school board seat. He has no plans to resign from the school board.

“I think this message was clearly sent to Tennessee. If you’re formally elected and come after someone who will make up for a complaint against them, you yourself can break the state law and you need to make sure you’re an actual complaint,” he said.