A Marion County, Tenn., deputy clerk in the Circuit and General Sessions Court Clerk office was being paid by private businesses while working on government time, according to an annual audit by the Tennessee Comptroller's Office.
Auditors found that a deputy clerk, who is not named in the news release, was personally paid by five different companies to run background checks.
Auditors determined the deputy clerk performed some of this work during business hours and was paid at least $36,617 over a five year period, according to the audit. A similar issue was also noted in Bledsoe County's fiscal year 2015 audit, officials said.
This deficiency has been reviewed with the district attorney general, officials said.
Marion County's audit identified a total of 10 areas of concern, many of them related to financial operations. Five of the 10 findings were also noted in last year's report but had not been corrected.
Auditors examined the county's operations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015,
and found several issues spread across multiple county departments and offices. Some of the repeat issues included multiple employees using the same cash drawer, not depositing funds within three days, and failing to separate financial responsibilities between more than one person.
The Comptroller's audit report also includes recommendations to address each of the findings.
"Unfortunately, multiple counties have now had issues with employees being paid to do background checks while on taxpayer time," Comptroller Justin P. Wilson said. "This activity is not appropriate and must be corrected. I am also particularly concerned when I see half of a county government's findings come from repeat issues."