McKinney was reportedly arrested in Florence, South Carolina, after returning from his military service and being on a railroad trip back to Georgia, due to him or one of his mates drinking from a segregated water fountain.

[citation needed] In 1970, McKinney unsuccessfully ran for the Fulton County Commission, receiving 33.1 percent of the vote.

[5] In August 1972, prior to getting elected into office, McKinney filed a lawsuit challenging Georgia's property tax school funding, describing it as discriminatory and as violating the Equal Protection Clause.

[10] During a 1982 special general election,[11] McKinney unsuccessfully ran as an independent candidate in Georgia's fifth congressional district;[12][13] he criticized the Reagan administration, claiming "His policies and programs are anti-people and anti-poor.

In 1976, it was reported that McKinney "had to be physically restrained" after he "threw a punch" at fellow representative J.C. Daugherty; the incident took place while they were discussing a welfare question in the proposed state budget.

[18] In August 1993, gay rights advocate Annie Archbold accused McKinney of punching her in the mouth outside of the Atlanta City Council.

Billy McKinney died on July 15, 2010, at the age of 83 in his southwest Atlanta home after a long struggle with cancer.

[26] A portion of Interstate 285 is known in his honor as the "James E. "Billy" McKinney Highway" between I-20 in northwest Atlanta and I-75 near Cumberland Mall.