The small sign, "Lesser Civil Magistrate," on the door of the chief of staff to Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank has caused a courthouse uproar and prompted county commissioners to approve a motion removing signs from doors. (BOB FOWLER/NEWS SENTINEL)

SHARE Richard Burroughs

By Bob Fowler of the Knoxville News Sentinel

CLINTON — A tiny sign affixed to the office door of County Mayor Terry Frank's chief of staff has sparked a big uproar in the latest bizarre twist in Anderson County politics.

The sign, "Lesser Civil Magistrate," on Richard Burroughs' door is linked to the sovereign citizens movement, County Commissioner Steve Mead contends. Mead says the FBI lists that subculture as a "domestic terrorist group."

The sign means Burroughs "advocates overthrow/obstruction of the existing government because it is illegal/unjust/immoral," Mead wrote in an email to his fellow commissioners Monday before the County Commission meeting. "His (Burroughs') position on this is well known and exhibited almost daily, but his having it posted in the courthouse hallway is at least questionable."

Adherents of the sovereign citizens movement subscribe to a variety of conspiracy theories, most of which deny the authority of the U.S. government — and often state and local governments as well — as illegal and illegitimate. Believers thus see themselves as exempt from most laws and not subject to taxes, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups.

"I don't believe having that posted on his door in the courthouse hallway is proper and that it clearly exhibits the adversarial relationship he and the mayor (who allows this posting) have with the entire county government," Mead's email states.

The size of the sign doesn't matter, he wrote.

"It's not very big," Mead said of the sign, "but it has a big meaning."

After a closed-door, executive session with the county law director Monday night, commissioners passed a motion that any signs on the outside of courthouse doors that open onto hallways — other than those required by the Americans with Disabilities Act or designating an office — are to be removed.

Burroughs, meanwhile, is declining to comment and has referred questions to his attorney, Hugh B. Ward Jr.

"We have been directed to review any and all legal options that private citizen Mr. Burroughs may have regarding this incident and certain members of the Anderson County Commission," Ward wrote in an email.

The sign remained posted Wednesday, just below Burroughs' business card, tacked to his office door.

Frank lambasted Mead's email.

"Calling Richard a domestic terrorist is ridiculous and if not so seriously slanderous, it would be humorous," the mayor wrote in an email.

She called Burroughs "a law-abiding citizen" with a high security clearance, "and certainly Mr. Mead has no insight into what Richard thinks or believes."

"How unhinged do you have to be to call my chief of staff a domestic terrorist?" Frank asked. "People like me who work to right wrongs are making these good ole boys nervous. Well, I'm not backing down."

Mead says it's Frank's job to tell Burroughs to take the sign down but that the County Commission ultimately has control over the courthouse. Burroughs is going to be required to take down the questionable sign and his business card, Mead said.