Georgia law requires politicians to publicly disclose income from state agencies on personal financial disclosure statements available for anyone to see.

House Majority Leader Jon Burns failed to disclose payments from state agencies.

Credit: Ken Foskett

icon to expand image

Credit: Ken Foskett

Most of the undisclosed money came from the Department of Natural Resources, which paid Burns' agricultural business for supplies. That's significant because Burns for years has served on the House House Game, Fish & Parks Committee, and was its chairman. The committee oversees legislation relevant to DNR.

Allowing voters to know about potential conflicts of interest between lawmakers and the agencies they regulate is exactly why Georgia has a law requiring elected officials to disclose how they make their money.

Burns, who lives in mostly rural Effingham County, said he believed his reports were accurate and that his compliance with the law had been "pretty good for a country boy."

About the Author

Keep Reading

A Korean Air plane takes off from Incheon International Airport in South Korea on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. The plane is chartered to bring back Korean workers detained in an immigration raid in Georgia. (Yonhap via AP)

Credit: AP

Featured

Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

Credit: NYT