Republic Board of Education President McConnell charged with fourth-degree assault

The president of the Republic School District Board of Education, Terry McConnell, has been charged with domestic assault in the fourth degree. The charge stems from an incident on June 20 in which he held a gun to his head and injured a victim who tried to take the weapon from him.

McConnell took the role of board president in 2026 and was elected to the board by voters in 2023.

According to the probable cause statement from the court case, emergency personnel were alerted to a situation in which the caller said that someone was wanting to kill themself and had a pistol.

Upon arriving at the address, the statement claims that an officer spoke with a woman that stated McConnell woke her while pointing a pistol to his own head, saying, "Today was the day.”

Court documents state that the woman, identified as Victim 1, tried to wrestle the pistol away from McConnell because she believed he may use it to kill himself. In the struggle for the weapon, McConnell shoved the woman away from him several times, causing injury to her back and forearms and leaving visible abrasions. The victim did manage to take the firearm, unload it and place it in a safe.

McConnell takes responsibility, per report

The officer spoke to McConnell after arriving, at which time McConnell stated, "It was all his fault" several times, according to the documents. He admitted to taking the pistol out of the nightstand while he and the victim were arguing and said that he did so out of “stupidity.”

The prosecutor states in the request for an arrest warrant that McConnell was intoxicated at the time of the incident and that two juveniles were in the home. The request for a warrant also indicates that McConnell had been in an argument with the victim before the incident took place.

A warrant was indeed secured for McConnell, which lists his bond at $25,000. He faces a charge of fourth-degree domestic assault in the meantime, while the state could look to add an additional charge according to the request.

“The state is waiting to review additional investigation materials to determine if charges of unlawfully exhibiting a firearm should be filed,” the request reads.

The request also states that McConnell was previously found guilty of felony burglary in 2002, which resulted in a suspended imposition of sentence, but the Commonwealth was unable to locate the records pertaining to the case as of June 22.

McConnell has served the Republic School District as a board member since 2023 and as board president as of April 2026; he graduated from Republic High School in 1999. The district released the following statement to the Commonwealth in an email:

“We are aware of the situation involving Mr. Terry McConnell. We do not have all of the details right now. However, we can share that this personal matter is not related to his service with Republic School District. When we gather more information, the Board of Education will determine how to move forward.”