Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland faces investigation by DA over campaign finances

NASHVILLE − A district attorney general should investigate if Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland violated campaign finance laws , state officials decided Tuesday.

The unanimous Tennessee Registry of Election Finance agreed to request that elected Rutherford County District Attorney General Jennings Jones, who's the grandson of a former Murfreesboro mayor by the same name, investigate McFarland's campaign fund raising in response to a complaint from state Rep. Robert Stevens , R-Smyrna.

The Stevens' complaint mentions that the Murfreesboro mayor accepted seven campaign contributions of either $2,500 or $2,000 each June 2022 that exceeded the legal limit of $1,600 per individual contribution prior to winning reelection.

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McFarland did not attend the state meeting in Nashville but provided the following statement to The Daily News Journal.

"I did have contributions that exceeded the legal limit," McFarland said. "When I found those, a while back, I immediately paid the money back to those donors and amended the reports with the Rutherford County Election Commission. I have always tried to be transparent and if there are any other issues, as always, I will rectify and address."

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Records show the mayor amended his campaign finance accounts

Registry officials await the findings from the district attorney general at a pending meeting before deciding to either dismiss the charges or schedule a show cause hearing. A show cause hearing potentially could lead to civil penalties of up to $10,000 per each violation of campaign finance law.

The Daily News Journal left a phone message with Jones, the district attorney general for Rutherford County, and awaits his response.

The mayor's campaign consultant Mike Terry said after the meeting that McFarland made corrections soon after Stevens made his initial complaint January 2024.

Rutherford County Election Commission records show McFarland made amendments to campaign finance records Feb. 9, 2024.

Terry also serves as a political consultant for Smyrna officials mentioned in the Stevens' complaint.

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Complaint accuses 2 mayors of violating campaign finance limits

Stevens also accused the Murfreesboro mayor's business, Shane McFarland Construction LLC, of using a political action committee (PAC), Tennesseans for Greater Accountability, as a conduit to bypass the individual campaign contribution limit to provide a $7,500 donation to Smyrna Mayor Mary Esther Reed.

McFarland's company is involved with plans to build 61 townhouses for a "Cedar Grove Village" project along Chaney Road in Smyrna by the town's boundary that's adjacent to the La Vergne High School campus, public records show.

The donation in question from McFarland came a couple of months after his longtime business partner Steven Dotson with DM Homes LLC won rezoning approval for a townhome project on nearly 7.4 acres from unanimous Smyrna Town Council votes that includes Mayor Reed during August and September meetings in 2022, the Murfreesboro mayor confirmed for an April story in The Daily News Journal.

McFarland said he avoids seeking rezoning approval and waits to get involved with projects once construction starts.

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PAC amends records after complaint

The initial complaint made by Stevens said the $7,500 donation from McFarland's construction company to the PAC and the PAC to Reed occurred on the same day, Nov. 23, 2022.

PAC records, however, have been amended since the complaint to show that McFarland's construction company made the $7,500 donation Nov. 15, 2022, followed by the PAC writing checks to Reed and three other Smyrna officials Nov. 22, 2022, said Terry, the political consultant for those identified in the complaint.

"I made a book keeping error," Terry told the registry members. "There was never any intentions to deceive."

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Stevens told the registry officials that they should investigate his complaint to prevent candidates from using PACs to collect more in donations than the limit for individual contributions.

"This didn't happen by chance and definitely needs to be investigated," Stevens told the registry officials. "I believe there's more to see here than what we're being told."

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State officials want to examine the PAC's finance records

Campaign Finance Registry officials asked Terry to provide financial records that show he wrote checks to four Smyrna officials on Nov. 22:

• $7,500 to Mayor Reed;
• and $2,000 each to Smyrna Vice Mayor Marc Adkins and fellow Smyrna Town Council members H.G. Cole and Gerry Short.

The ending fund balance of the PAC after the donations was just over $743, according to the amended fourth quarter report for 2022.

Terry told the state officials the donation from McFarland excluded any direction on who should get the $7,500, and was meant to promote Murfreesboro and Smyrna officials working together.

Prior to the PAC funding raising and donations to the Smyrna candidates, Terry said he sought facts from Alan Farley, the administrator of elections for Rutherford County, "to make sure everything was legal and proper and above board."

Farley confirmed with The Daily News Journal that he did hear from Terry in advance of the fund raising and donations. The election administrator said he researched the questions with Tennessee Registry of Election Finance staff and provided the PAC consultant with information from the state.

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Stevens says his complaint seeks to hold officials accountable

The Daily News Journal also left a phone and text messages with the Smyrna mayor and awaits Reed's response.

Reed previously said she accepted a legal donation from the PAC. The mayor suggested Stevens made his complaint because she joined the majority of the Smyrna Town Council in deciding to hold a referendum March 5 asking voters if the government should eliminate the local General Sessions Court presided over by Judge Brittany Stevens, the sister of the state lawmaker.

Over 71% of the Smyrna voters in March rejected the referendum that sought to get rid of the town's General Sessions Court.

"If voters had supported the March 5 Smyrna Referendum, his sister would not have been guaranteed another term as judge beyond 2030," Reed told The Daily News Journal.

"I believe Representative Stevens is trying to use his position as state representative to weaponize a state agency against me and others because of a personal vendetta. The complaint he filed was based on inaccurate information. The record is available for all to see, and it shows that everything was done in compliance with election law."

Stevens said Tuesday prior to the Registry of Election Finance meeting that he filed his complaint to hold elected officials accountable.

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Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland faces investigation by DA over campaign finances