Brian D. Burns

Brian D. Burns (born November 17, 1939) was a Vermont political figure who served as Lieutenant Governor.

Brian Douglas Burns was born in Burlington, Vermont on November 17, 1939. He was the nephew of John J. Burns, an Irish American who served as the Mayor of Burlington, Vermont. Brian Burns graduated from Burlington's Cathedral High School in 1958, attended the University of Vermont and became active in the real estate business.

He served in the United States Army and the Vermont National Guard in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

In 1966 Burns ran successfully for a seat in the Vermont House of Representatives. He served four terms, from 1967 to 1975. He was the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 1974. he finished in first place, with 66,942 votes to Republican candidate T. Garry Buckley's 60,962, and 6,484 for Liberty Union Party nominee Arthur Deloy. Since Burns fell 256 votes short of the majority required by the state constitution, the contest was decided by the Vermont Legislature, which voted for Burns by a margin of 161 to 20. He served from January 1975 to January 1977.

In 1976 Burns was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor, losing a three way race to State Treasurer Stella Hackel. (Hackel went on to lose the general election to Republican Richard Snelling).

After leaving the Lieutenant Governor's office Burns was employed as New England Director for the Farmers Home Administration.

Burns was an unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of Burlington in 1985, losing a three way race to incumbent Bernie Sanders. In 1988 Burns unsuccessfully sought a seat in the Vermont Senate.

From 1989 to 1993 Burns was a Program Manager for the Northeast Rural Water Association (NERWA). While in this position he also completed a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

In 1995 he was convicted of three counts of fraud for having claimed to be working full time for NERWA while he also claimed to be attending Harvard University full time. (Attending school full time was a requirement of the degree program.) According to investigators, Burns misrepresented his work hours on daily NERWA time logs, and used $5,000 in federal funds to pay for an apartment and $7,000 for travel expenses, in addition to $30,000 in salary while attending Harvard. He was sentenced to six months in jail and four months of home detention, and ordered to pay restitution and court costs. He appealed but his conviction was affirmed.