Smoke Clearing: Fallout From Channel 4 I-Team Probe

Since State Rep. Joe McCord clearly declined opportunity to comment to WSMV before, during, and after the airing of our story, I thought I’d reprint this AP story, which contains his response.

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State Rep. Joe McCord acknowledges smoking in his office

Eds: UPDATES with details, reax.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — State Rep. Joe McCord acknowledged that

he and others have smoked in his legislative office suite, even

though smoking is prohibited at the state Capitol.

WSMV-TV in Nashville first reported that smoking was going on in

McCord’s office. It aired a video taken from outside the

Legislature’s War Memorial Building in which someone holding a

cigarette could be seen through a window.

“People have smoked in my office, and they are subject to

whatever punishment there may be for violations,” McCord told The

Knoxville News Sentinel. When asked if he had ever smoked in the

area he said yes.

Officials of the state Department of Labor and Workforce

Development, which enforces Tennessee’s smoking ban, have reviewed

the video, and “it clearly shows there could be a violation of the

law,” department spokeswoman Milissa Reierson said.

Ashtrays, an air purification system and a sandbag used to seal

the space below a door were all used inside a room in the suite

McCord shares with Rep. Parkey Strader, a Knoxville Republican

who’s been absent while undergoing treatment for cancer.

Reierson said that department procedure is to send an advisory

letter to the appropriate state official who oversees the building.

If a second violation occurs, there would then be a warning

letter, and, after a third violation, the building owner would be

subject to a $100 fine. An individual caught smoking after a

warning letter is subject to a $50 fine.

McCord was among lawmakers who voted for the 2006 measure that

banned smoking in government buildings. He voted against a

statewide ban on smoking in indoor workplaces in 2007.

McCord said he was concerned about the way WSMV reporter Jeremy

Finley and a videojournalist developed their story. McCord said

other legislators claimed they saw the pair enter the office suite

when no one was present, opening filing cabinet drawers while

inside.

According to the TV station’s report, 12 bottles of liquor were

found in one cabinet and were shown in a video. There is no

prohibition against storing alcoholic beverages at state

legislative offices, according to a 1982 attorney general’s

opinion.

Finley said the cabinet was in a conference room that is open to

the public.

“We consulted with our attorneys to make sure we were not

invading anybody’s personal space,” he said.

Reierson said only one business, a Nashville bowling lane, has

been fined $100 under the smoking ban law. No individual has been

fined the $50 fee.

Eleven state-owned buildings have received advisory letters

because of alleged violations, including the University of

Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium.

Rep. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, who complained on the House

floor last year that some colleagues he did not name were ignoring

the smoking ban, said Tuesday that he was “embarrassed that we

still have people flouting our state laws.”

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Information from: The Knoxville News Sentinel, www.knoxnews.com