Audit questions reimbursements by unnamed Hamilton County Commissioner

HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) – A state audit has uncovered what they call questionable reimbursements from a current Hamilton County Commissioner.

They have not released the name of the commissioner at this time, because no criminal charges have been filed.

However, they are alerting local officials of more than $27,000 paid to the commissioner for questionable expenses.

The State Comptrollers report said “he” asked for the money to cover items from his discretionary spending allowance.

That includes:

• $15,500 to rent an additional office space when the building did not have active electric service. Investigators visited the office and observed indications that the office was not being used.
• $5,971.42 for meetings at local restaurants.
• $1,059.10 for a personal purchase of two red leather office chairs.
• $1,368.18 for cell phone accessories, including charging cables, wall adapters, a Bluetooth speaker, Apple AirPods, portable phone chargers, and Beats wireless earbuds.
• $1,349.81 for the purchase of 48 storage totes that investigators could not locate.
• $1,127.58 in lodging expenses that exceeded allowable amounts.
• $1,006 for the renewal of a Post Office Box.

The investigators say they also found the commissioner never turned over a check for $150 meant for the Medal of Honor Hall of Valor Museum.

The results of the investigation have been turned over to the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference, since the local District Attorney General has been recused in the case.

“County commissioner expenses should be appropriately scrutinized before reimbursements are made,” said Comptroller Mumpower. “All expenses should be in furtherance of the county commissioner’s duties and not wasteful or abusive of taxpayer funds.”

You can read the full report from the Comptroller’s Office here.