by TChris

Sheriff Tim Hutchison of Knox County, Tennessee, has been involved in a series of lawsuits regarding his use of "taxpayer money to maintain things like helicopters and horses and construct buildings without [county] commission approval." A county commissioner asked the Sheriff to produce public records pertaining to one of the lawsuits. Hutchinson responded with 22 pages, then advised the court that those were all the documents he had. It turns out that he had another 15 boxes.

The court held the Sheriff in contempt, and the state supreme court upheld that finding. Hutchinson complains that the contempt finding isn't fair because he was only doing what he was told to do by the County Law Director. He claims that he objected at the time -- but the fact remains that he made a false statement, knowing it to be false.

"He told me to do it" isn't much of a defense under those circumstances, but Hutchinson is sticking to his guns -- presumably because his appeal, at least to this point, has been paid by county taxpayers. The contempt order required Hutchinson to pay $300. So far, Knox County taxpayers have paid more than $93,000 to Hutchinson's lawyers for their unsuccessful efforts to overturn the order.