A former state representative — and lawman — has resigned after being confronted with evidence he accessed confidential records used as part of a political smear campaign against Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett in his bid for U.S. Congress, officials have confirmed.

Former state Rep. Chad Faulkner resigned from his job as a jailer at the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office last week after a criminal probe linked him to the release of records a judge had ordered expunged, Loudon County Sheriff Tim Guider said.

Those records — which involved Burchett’s stepson — were publicly disseminated earlier this year via a batch of anonymous emails sent to Knox County commissioners and the media as part of an ongoing political smear campaign against Burchett, who is vying for the 2nd Congressional District seat in this year’s election.

The same records were included in a complaint filed with the state Comptroller’s Office against Burchett.

Tracking the breach

Guider said he launched a criminal probe after learning the emails contained Loudon County Sheriff’s Office records that had been ordered expunged. The sheriff said an investigation by Capt. Jeff Russell and Sgt. Charlie Costner showed the records were accessed from a computer being used by Faulkner and utilizing Faulkner’s identification code.

“We tracked his movements and the times,” the sheriff said.

When confronted, Faulkner insisted someone else might have surreptitiously accessed the records while he had stepped away from his computer, but Guider said he and his investigators weren’t buying it.

“We set up a polygraph,” Guider said. “He initially said he would do it, but the day before he was to do it, he resigned.”

Releasing records that were supposed to be destroyed, redacted or erased pursuant to a judge’s order in judicial diversion cases is a Class A misdemeanor. Citizens granted an expungement pay $350 for the enforcement of a judge's expungement order.

'He did it'

“He did it,” Guider said of Faulkner. But the sheriff said he did not believe the agency could mount a successful prosecution because the probe also exposed a security flaw in the agency’s handling of records ordered expunged.

Russell Johnson, whose jurisdiction as 9th Judicial District attorney general includes Loudon County, reviewed the investigative file. He agreed with Guider’s assessment on Faulkner’s culpability but said he does not believe he has enough evidence to convict Faulkner.

Faulkner could not be reached for comment.

Faulkner served a single term in the state legislature, representing Union County and Campbell County, from 2008 to 2010 while employed as a Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputy.

Promoted by Hutchison

Faulkner began his career at KCSO in the early 1990s as a maintenance worker. In 1997, he tried to snare a post as a jailer but was expelled from a training academy because of a “confrontational management” style, federal court records show. But then-Sheriff Tim Hutchison promoted him to patrol a few years later.

Hutchison, whom Burchett bested in his first run for Knox County mayor in 2010, was assistant chief deputy when the Sheriff's Office allowed Faulkner to take leave from his job to run for the legislature. His campaign spurred a legal controversy over whether deputies could run for office while still on the payroll.

Once in the legislature, Faulkner tried to advance legislation to block term limits in Knox County that put Hutchison out of office.

Faulkner left KCSO after he lost his bid for re-election to his legislative seat. Faulkner later was elected as a constable in Union County. Guider said he was hired as a jailer in Loudon County in May 2016.

Hutchison, who is now running for legislature himself in House District 89, could not be reached for comment.

Burchett is running for the 2nd Congressional District seat held for decades by U.S. Rep. Jimmy Duncan, who is not seeking re-election. Burchett is vying in the Republican primary against state Rep. Jimmy Matlock (R-Lenoir City), Blount County businessman Jason Emert and others.

Copies left 'on front porch'

Earlier this year, Burchett was the target of political attacks carried out via anonymous robocalls and emails. The emails accused Burchett of nepotism because his stepson was hired as a laborer in Knox County’s public works department in 2015 and included the expunged records, apparently accessed through the use of Faulkner’s identification code.

Knox County businessman Brad Mayes, who was captured on video at a Republican gathering in Powell earlier this year asking Burchett about his stepson, said he relied on an article in a Loudon County newspaper when he confronted Burchett with the issue. 

Subsequently, however, he said someone left copies of the confidential records “on the front porch of my office.”

He said he was unaware the records had been ordered expunged or that the release of the records was a crime.

“I thought I had hit the jackpot,” said Mayes, who has been a harsh critic of Burchett. 

Asked about Faulkner, Mayes responded, “Who is that?”

“I’ve never talked to Chad Faulkner,” Mayes said.

"I had nothing to do with obtaining them, and I had nothing to do with whoever sent these all over Knox County before I got the copies I had," he said. 

Mayes was photographed at an April East Tennessee Historical Society event seated with Matlock supporters, including Burchett’s ex-wife, Allison.

Opponents deny role

Matlock spokesman Sean Lansing said Monday Matlock had no role in the release of the confidential records and said Matlock “of course” did not condone the use of those records to attack his opponent.

Emert spokesman Chris Olmstead likewise denied Emert had a role in the release of the confidential records. Olmstead refused to denounce the release of the records, though, and instead used his denial of involvement to take a jab at Burchett.

“We don’t have anything to do with the fact that Tim Burchett hired his stepson … and our campaign didn’t have anything to do with how that came to light,” Olmstead said.

Guider said the breach of the confidential records exposed a flaw in the technology the agency uses to handle the scrubbing of its records under the state’s expungement law. Records ordered expunged were not always being properly flagged as confidential and related reports were not being properly redacted, he said.

“I called the (technology) vendor, and we were able to go in and fix some of the security issues,” Costner said.

Guider said he has ordered a review to ensure that all records within the agency’s system that have been ordered expunged are now properly flagged and redacted.

“The security problem we were having has been fixed,” he said.

Burchett praised Guider and Johnson for pursuing a probe of the security breach involving his stepson, who is now 25 but was 21 at the time of the expungement.

“I’m disappointed our system has failed this young man,” Burchett said. “But I have confidence in Sheriff Guider, and I’m glad they can fix the problem so no other kid has to go through this. It’s disappointing that at least one of my opponents is attacking my family. They know they can’t tarnish my record as Knox County mayor, so they go after my wife and my wife’s son.”