Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston used county funds to supplement state pay for his wife and brother-in-law, state records show.
In May, Pinkston was asked by a county commissioner whether any of his relatives were being paid using county money.
“Of the county employees that the county’s responsible to have on our payroll, so to speak, are any of those employees a relative of you?” Commissioner Tim Boyd asked during a routine budget hearing.
“No. They’re not,” Pinkston answered.
But records from the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference – the state organization that provides administrative services for district attorneys’ offices – show that Pinkston’s brother-in-law receives about 30% of his salary from the county, though he is on the state’s payroll.