Tenn. Judge Dismisses Move to Revoke Sen. Ford’s Insurance License

Efforts in Memphis, Tenn. by the state Department of Commerce and Insurance to revoke former state Sen. John Ford’s insurance license were shot down by a judge on Wednesday.

The department said when Ford spent campaign money on his daughter’s Memphis wedding, his “conduct, at a minimum, demonstrated untrustworthiness or financial irresponsibility.”

The petition, which was filed against Ford in January, was dismissed by administrative law Judge Marion Wall in Memphis.

“The judge was uncomfortable with the way the notice was given to Ford,” said department spokeswoman Kelly Brockman. “The judge dismissed it on a technicality, but we’re going to refile.”

Julian Bolton, Ford’s attorney in the matter, said the judge found that the department did not follow proper legal procedures when it set out to revoke Ford’s license.

The state Registry of Election Finance last May fined Ford $10,000 for spending campaign money on the wedding.

Ford, who called the finding “stupid,” resigned later that month after a federal indictment on unrelated corruption charges stemming from an FBI investigation code-named Tennessee Waltz. He is awaiting trial on those charges.

The $10,000 penalty was the maximum the board could charge Ford for one instance of inappropriate campaign spending, Drew Rawlins, the registry’s executive director, said at the time.

In a statement to the registry, Ford said he used campaign money on the 2003 wedding “in part, because I was aware other public officials had used campaign funds to finance a wedding anniversary or purchase automobiles for family members when those items were being used, in part, for campaign purposes.”