In 1876, he was admitted to the bar in Cherokee County, Alabama and commenced practice in Gadsden thereafter.

Burnett was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-sixth and to the ten succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1899, until his death.

[1] He served as chairman of the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization (Sixty-second through Sixty-fifth Congresses).

[2] John L. Burnett died in Gadsden, Alabama on May 13, 1919, and was interred in Forest Cemetery.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress