Tim Burchett
| Tim Burchett | |
|---|---|
Tim Burchett
|
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| Tennessee House of Representatives | |
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In office 1995–1998 |
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| Tennessee State Senate | |
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In office 1999–2010 |
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| Knox County, Tennessee Mayor | |
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Assumed office August 5, 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Mike Ragsdale |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Timothy Floyd Burchett August 25, 1964 Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) |
Allison Beaver-Burchett (m. 2008; Divorced 2012) Kelly Kimball (m. 2014) |
| Children | 3 Stepchildren from Kimball |
| Alma mater | University of Tennessee, Knoxville |
Timothy Floyd "Tim" Burchett (born August 25, 1964) is an American Republican politician, currently the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. He previously served in Tennessee General Assembly, first in the Tennessee House of Representatives and later in the Tennessee State Senate, in which he represented Tennessee's District 7, part of Knox County. On August 5, 2010, Burchett was elected mayor of Knox County, replacing Mike Ragsdale.
Burchett is a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, where he was born in 1964 and attended West Hills Elementary School, Bearden Junior High School, and Bearden High School. After graduating from Bearden High School in 1982, he enrolled in the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where he earned a B.S. degree in education.
Burchett's first election to public office was in 1994, when he won a seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives. He served in the house for two two-year terms, from 1995 to 1998. In 1998, he was a successful candidate for a four-year term in the Tennessee State Senate, representing the 7th senatorial district. He twice won re-election to the state senate, serving a total of three four-year terms, from 1999 to 2010.
In 1999, Burchett received national media attention for sponsoring a bill to legalize the eating of roadkill, that is, wild animals killed by vehicles. He defended the proposal as a "common-sense thing" intended to prevent edible meat from being wasted. Burchett proposed the bill after being contacted by a constituent who had been penalized for giving a needy family the meat from a deer that his vehicle had accidentally hit on the highway.
Senator Burchett sponsored a bill in 2006 to make illegal "possessing, producing, manufacturing, distributing, or possessing with intent to produce, manufacture, or distribute the active chemical ingredient in the hallucinogenic plant Salvia divinorum in the state of Tennessee." Burchett stated, "We have enough problems with illegal drugs as it is without people promoting getting high from some glorified weed that's been brought up from Mexico. The only people I’ve heard from who are opposed to making it illegal are those who are getting stoned on it." The bill was signed into law on May 19, 2006 and went into effect on July 1, 2006. Burchett originally wanted to make violations a felony offense, but the bill was amended during its passage to make it a Class A misdemeanor.
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