10/21/2026
SUMNER COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BREAK THE LAW TO PICK NEW LAW DIRECTOR
In September, I told you this Commission was already violating the Sunshine Law, deliberating behind closed doors to replace Law Director Eric Sitler. I told you Michael Begley was the pre-determined, hand-picked choice to replace him. And I told you the interviews would be nothing more than a dog and pony show, because the real decision had already been made where you could not see it.
On October 19, 2026, that stopped being a warning and became a documented fact. Mr. Begley was announced as the pick, and the decision was made exactly where I said it would be: behind a closed door, in violation of state law.
Let me be clear: the committee choosing Sumner County's next Law Director broke state law. They didn't bend it. They broke it.
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HERE IS THE TIMELINE
- September 21: The Commission voted to buy out and remove Law Director Eric Sitler. Only four commissioners voted no: Tim Jones, Matt Shoaf, Jake Edgar, and Don Schmit.
- Immediately after: An ad hoc committee was created to select his replacement: Commissioners Merrol Hyde, Dillon Lamberth, and Jim Rohnkohl, along with County Mayor John Isbell.
- Within two weeks: Three people applied: Michael Begley, Steve Weiner (Interim Law Director), and Patrick Parker.
- October 6: The ad hoc held its last publicly noticed meeting.
- Friday, October 17: The ad hoc committee met again with no public notice. No citizens were present. No video was recorded. The new law foolishly allows, but does not require, a committee to interview applicants in an unnoticed executive session, but it cannot deliberate or decide there. The rest of the Commission had no idea it was happening. Yet two commissioners who aren’t on the committee, Shannon Burgdorf and Matt Campbell, were in attendance. How did they know about it and nobody else did? When the committee went to deliberate and come to a decision, even these two commissioners were told to leave the room. But the moment they were kicked out, they knew exactly what was happening: a decision being made with no notice, no public, no camera. Did anyone object? Did anyone insist it be recorded per the Commission’s rules and county policy? Did anyone warn the public, or tell the other 19 commissioners? Commissioner Campbell is new, and it’s fair to assume that he mistakenly took his cues from incumbents in the room. Commissioner Burgdorf was one of them. She knew better, and this isn’t the first time.
- Monday morning, October 19: County Mayor John Isbell, himself a member of the ad hoc, emailed commissioners that Michael Begley had been chosen.
Chosen how? There was no publicly noticed meeting where a decision could lawfully be made. There was no public in the room. There is no video.
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THE LAW THEY HID BEHIND SAYS THE OPPOSITE
They will tell you a brand-new state law let them do this in private. It did not. T.C.A. § 8-44-102(e) (Public Chapter 1048, effective 2026) lets a governing body interview applicants for director-level positions in a closed executive session. That's all it allows. The very next line says the body "shall not make hiring decisions or deliberate in the executive session. All deliberation and voting must be done in an open, publicly noticed meeting."
That isn't a loophole. It's a wall. They could ask questions in private. They could not decide in private. And they knew it. But they did it anyway.
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HERE IS HOW THEY BROKE THE LAW
1. They deliberated in secret. The law flatly forbids deliberating in an executive session. This committee cleared the room for the express purpose of deliberating. Their own actions are the proof.
2. They reached a decision without a public meeting. Any meeting where a governing body deliberates or decides requires adequate public notice (T.C.A. § 8-44-103), and the new law REQUIRES that “all deliberation and voting” happen in a publicly noticed meeting. They deliberated anyway. This committee hasn’t held a publicly noticed meeting since October 6. Yet by Monday morning, the County Mayor was announcing the pick.
3. They threw members of the governing body out of the room. Holding the interviews in private was a choice, not a requirement. The new law allows an executive session for interviews, but it doesn’t require one. If a committee does choose to close the doors, the law limits attendance to “members of the governing body, relevant staff invited by the body, and the applicants.” The Commission is the governing body. The ad hoc committee was born out of the Commission, and the Commission, not a four-member committee, elects the Law Director. Commissioners Burgdorf and Campbell are exactly who the law says may be in that room. And the moment the committee began deliberating, the law required the doors to be open to everyone.
4. They broke the Commission’s own rules and county policy. The Standing Rules and County Policy require that ALL committee and ad hoc meetings be recorded for the public. There is no video.
The new law also requires minutes listing everyone in attendance. Where are those minutes?
These aren't technicalities. This is the heart of the Sunshine Law, and state law says plainly what happens when it's violated: any action taken in violation of the Act is void (T.C.A. § 8-44-105).
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IT CAN BE DONE IN THE OPEN. I KNOW, BECAUSE WE DID IT
In 2022, I chaired the Law Director Selection Ad Hoc Committee that hired Mr. Sitler. We conducted ALL of the interviews in public. We video recorded every one of them. And we deliberated in public, where any citizen could watch us make the decision. You can still watch those meetings today: https://www.youtube.com//videos
The new law "lets" a committee hold interviews in private. It has NEVER "required" it. This committee could have done every bit of this in the open, the way we did. They chose NOT to. The people of Sumner County deserve to see how the attorney who advises their government is chosen. We showed them in 2022. There is no excuse for hiding it from them in 2026.
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THIS IS THE SAME PATTERN I WARNED YOU ABOUT IN SEPTEMBER
Under the Tennessee Open Meetings Act, when two or more commissioners deliberate toward a decision, that deliberation must happen in a public meeting. That includes phone calls, texts, emails, and conversations passed along through a third party.
Accounts circulating publicly from people close to the situation say a majority of the reelected commissioners discussed replacing Mr. Sitler outside of public meetings for months, and had already settled on Mr. Begley before the Commission ever voted. By those same accounts, Mr. Begley had been seeking the job for months, even calling Commission candidates before they were elected.
And who is Mr. Begley close to? After the May 2026 primaries, he publicly thanked Charlena Aumiller, among others, for "opening the door" for his family's weekend trip to Universal Studios in Orlando. That's the same Charlena Aumiller who filed a complaint trying to take Mr. Sitler's law license. (For background on Ms. Aumiller, read my earlier post here: https://tinyurl.com/4vzv687e)
Make no mistake: this Commission and County Mayor want a "yes man" as Law Director, one who will do their dirty work the way Mr. Sitler's predecessor did for the previous County Mayor. As I've reported before, she told me and the late Commissioner Moe Taylor on a phone call that "it is not unethical to lie unless it benefits you financially." She also advised me not to use my official county email so I could avoid open records requests. It's no wonder this Commission wants someone it can control as it pushes higher taxes on hardworking taxpayers, more unrestricted high-density development, and the rapid carve-up of unincorporated Sumner County, paving it over like one giant parking lot.
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WHAT HAPPENS NOW
The full Commission still has to elect the Law Director. Tennessee courts have held that a later public vote cures a Sunshine Law violation only if it is a real, "new and substantial reconsideration" of the matter, not a rubber stamp on a decision already made in secret (Neese v. Paris Special School District, Tenn. Ct. App. 1990).
So ask yourself: if a decision is made behind a closed door, announced by email, and then ratified on the floor, is that open, transparent, lawful government?
"For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." (John 3:20, NKJV)
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HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO
1. Email your commissioner and ask for the minutes and the video of the October 17 ad hoc meeting: [email protected]
2. Demand that this ad hoc committee be disbanded, that new members be appointed, commissioners like Tim Jones County Commission District 23 who voted against removing Mr. Sitler in the first place, and that the entire process start over in open, publicly noticed, recorded meetings, where all three applicants get a fair hearing in front of you. State law has always allowed it.
3. Attend the next County Commission meeting on Monday, October 26, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. in the Commission Chambers at 355 Belvedere Dr. N., Gallatin, and sign up to speak.
The real decision was made where you could not see it, by people who know exactly what the law says. That is not open. It is not lawful. And it is not acceptable.
