Former senator Katrina Robinson sued for failure to pay fines over late disclosures

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance has filed suit against former state senator Katrina Robinson in order to collect financial penalties stemming from her failure to file 2020 and 2021 financial disclosures in a timely manner.

Court filings show the Registry first assessed Robinson a $7,500 fine in Aug. 2021 for failing to file the required early year-end supplemental campaign disclosure for 2020, after a series of notifications from the Registry that started in Jan. 2021. 

On Nov. 15, 2021, the Registry added a $10,000 fine after Robinson failed to submit a 2021 mid-year campaign finance disclosure. 

Robinson requested reconsideration of the $7,500 fine — although she had not attended a July 2021 Registry hearing to address the pending charges —  writing in an email that she could not file the 2020 report as changes in her bank account “prevented access to records.” 

The Registry denied her appeal and according to the suit, Robinson has not paid any portion of the $17,500 in fines assessed. 

Robinson beat incumbent Reginald Tate to win Memphis Senate district 33 in 2018. She became the first member of the Tennessee Senate to be expelled from the body on ethics charges after she was convicted of two felony counts of wire fraud and a pretrial diversion related to misuse of funds intended for a nursing school she operated in Memphis. 

The convictions were for charges of less than $3,500 in transactions that occurred between 2016 and 2018.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office is prosecuting the case, which is slated for Davidson County Chancery Court.