A Lawrence County, Tennessee, sheriff and a captain within the sheriff’s office were indicted and arrested yesterday after an investigation found the office allegedly allowed inmates to be used for labor by various county employees at personal homes and for personal reasons. The investigation was conducted by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Officials began investigating the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department in May 2017. During the investigation, officials found that from 2015 through 2017, Sheriff Jimmy Brown allowed inmates to be used for personal labor by county employees. The investigation also determined Brown used his position to go around the bond process for some people who had been arrested, and he released them from jail without requiring them to pay bond. The Comptroller’s Office said some inmates were dropped off at public locations and only checked on when the supervising individual had time, and others were granted furloughs without proper authorization by a judge. Agents also said Captain Adam Brewer falsified time sheets and misled investigators about the accuracy of reported hours worked at the department. Yesterday, a Lawrence County grand jury returned indictments against Brown for two counts of official misconduct, one count of use of inmate labor for personal gain and one count of tampering with evidence. Brewer was charged with one county of official misconduct. Brown’s bond was set at $25,000, and Brewer’s was set at $5,000.