TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on May 11, 2021

Rep. David Byrd, R-Waynesboro, missed the entire 2021 legislative session due to complications from COVID-19, the Tennessean reports. Byrd was diagnosed with the virus in early December and spent more than a month in the intensive care unit and weeks on a ventilator. Since then, he has been back and forth between rehab centers and hospitals. Rep. Kent Calfee, R-Kingston, announced from the House floor on April 29 that Byrd had “been in Vanderbilt about 10 days.” His absence, though rarely discussed during session, was excused, a common occurrence for legislators out with illness. Byrd has faced calls for resignation since 2018 when he was accused of sexually assaulting three women when they were underage in the 1980s. He has never publicly denied the allegations.