NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Tennessee lawmakers are planning to vote on a bid to oust a sitting member for the first time in 36 years.
The move to expel Republican state Rep. Jeremy Durham of Franklin follows an attorney general’s investigation that detailed allegations of improper sexual contact with at least 22 women over the course of his four years in office.
Durham has denied the allegations. He appeared for the House floor session Tuesday after earlier threatening to sit out the proceedings because he didn’t believe he would receive a fair hearing.
The last member to be expelled from the General Assembly was then-Rep. Robert Fisher, who was ousted on a 92-1 vote in 1980. The Elizabethton Republican had been convicted of asking for a bribe to kill a bill.