Tim vs. Tim: Blow-up between Burchett, ex-sheriff Hutchison caught on video

Election-year tension between Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett and ex-sheriff Tim Hutchison flared into a public confrontation at the City County Building last week, a security video shows.

Hutchison says the mayor "blew up" at him with accusations of helping in a smear campaign and had to be pulled away by officers. Burchett says he kept his cool and did nothing more than defend his family.

"It is beyond explanation why at least one of my opponents is going to such lengths to trash my family that he will coordinate his efforts with a former sheriff who was kicked out of office," Burchett said in a statement Friday. "Hutchison draws a large taxpayer-funded pension. You'd think he had better things to do than spend his time smearing my family."

The men last faced off in 2010, when Burchett defeated Hutchison in the Republican primary for county mayor with 85 percent of the vote. Now Burchett seeks the party’s nomination for the 2nd District U.S. House seat representing Knox County, while Hutchison seeks the nomination for the 89th District state House seat representing West Knox County.

View of the video

Last week’s showdown erupted the morning of May 10 in the main floor hallway between the elevators and 4th Circuit Court. Video from a Public Building Authority security camera, obtained via a public records request, shows the men crossing paths and then arguing for two to three minutes.

Hutchison, who showed up to testify in a court case, says Burchett confronted him "screaming" and demanding to know if he'd dug up a police report on a 2014 rape accusation — ruled unfounded — against Burchett's stepson that turned up in a blast email to county commissioners and the media.

"It was bizarre," Hutchison wrote in an email to the News Sentinel. "I have not seen anyone blow up completely out of control screaming like that since I was an officer on the street dealing with drunks. ... I advised him any work I did as a licensed (private investigator) I could not divulge the client or any details. ... He (started) asking about purged records in Loudon County ... (I) tried to walk away from him at least twice but he stepped in front of me both times, and he had to be dragged away by two officers, as you can see in the video."

The camera captured no audio and shows the confrontation at low resolution through a wide-angle lens that flattens distances and makes details fuzzy. Video from a second security camera on an opposite wall shows a mostly waist-down view.

The men crowd each other as fingers point in what appears to be an animated discussion before they separate. As some bystanders' heads turn, three uniformed Knox County Sheriff's Office deputies walk up and intervene, but no one gets dragged away.

"Tim Hutchison is a liar, and Knox County voters know it," Burchett said. “My dad always said that a man who doesn’t defend his family isn’t much of a man. I made it very clear to him that I was not happy, but I never screamed, and the video shows that, as evidenced by the fact that no one passing by in the immediate vicinity appeared to give any notice to our conversation."

Burchett says Hutchison stopped him "and began apologizing for digging up and spreading around information on my family ... and said he didn't know it was my family."

"I corrected him and said, 'You mean my stepson? That's inexcusable. That's not true, you knew exactly what you were doing. You aren't anyone's messenger boy.' He got irate and replied with, 'Well, you dug up all that information on me and got the bank examiners after me.' ... Some deputies took notice of our conversation and suggested we part ways. I walked away with my human resources manager at my side and a single deputy several steps behind us, as you can clearly see."

KCSO spokeswoman Martha Dooley said no officers took any action "that I'm aware of" or filed any reports about the argument.

Hutchison insists he was the victim.

"I have never had a bank examiner or anyone else look at me or my finances!!!" he wrote. "It’s just typical Burchett making something up to make whomever he is mad at look bad. ... All I did was walk up to him and say hello."

Anonymous attacks

The confrontation came in the wake of a batch of anonymous emails sent to Knox County commissioners and the media, along with an anonymous complaint filed with the state Comptroller’s Office, all accusing Burchett of violating the county’s nepotism policy by arranging the hiring of his stepson, Tyler McCree, as a laborer for the county Public Works Department in spite of a criminal record. Burchett says he had nothing to do with the hiring, and court records show no criminal convictions for McCree.

"I reminded him if he had not put him to work which is against the law, it would not be an issue and (to) quit blaming everyone else for his actions ignoring the law," Hutchison wrote.

The complaint also targets Benjamin Bean, a worker in the county Finance Department, who has since resigned. The Comptroller's Office won't confirm whether the agency's opened an investigation.

The emails and the complaint contain copies of the 2014 rape accusation and of a Loudon County jail booking record for McCree in an unrelated case ordered expunged by a judge. Chad Faulkner — a Loudon County jailer, former state representative and longtime ally of Hutchison — resigned last week after an internal investigation traced the leaked records to Faulkner, Loudon County Sheriff Tim Guider said.

State law treats release of an expunged record as a misdemeanor, but authorities have said Faulkner will face no charges. Hutchison denies being involved.

"If it was still in a computer someone neglected to expunge it," he wrote.

Crowded campaign fields

Burchett seeks the congressional seat representing Knox County held for 30 years by U.S. Rep. John J. “Jimmy” Duncan Jr., who isn’t seeking re-election. He faces state Rep. Jimmy Matlock (R-Lenoir City), Blount County businessman Jason Emert and others in the Republican primary Aug. 2.

Matlock and Emert have denied any role in the attacks on Burchett.

Hutchison won election to five terms as sheriff from 1990 to 2006 until the state Supreme Court forced him and 11 others from office in January 2007 in a decision upholding enforcement of term limits for Knox County officeholders. He filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after being hit with a $300,000 court judgment for breach of contract in a venture into the auto business.

Hutchison seeks the state House seat held by outgoing Rep. Roger Kane, R-Knoxville, representing West Knox County. His opponents in the Republican primary include Justin Lafferty, Jesse Nelson, Guy L. Smoak and Stacey Campfield, the controversial former state legislator turned talk radio host.