Auditors: Some work done wasn’t allowed by state law

Report says private property, cemeteries were ‘cleaned up’

State auditors say Grundy County’s Highway Department for years did work on privately owned properties and cemeteries that is not allowed under Tennessee law.

Though documents don’t name him, former Highway Superintendent Hubert Dewayne “Turkey” Hargis, who was defeated in the county’s May Democratic primary election, was in charge of the department since 2002, county election records show.

According to the Tennessee Comptroller’s Investigative Report issued Thursday, in one situation the department performed various work on an individual’s farm over about nine years. Auditors said in the report that Hargis has cattle on the farm. The work has included bulldozing stumps and hauling the stumps, dirt and old tile to fill in a hollow on the farm, the report states.

More work was done on another farm that is run by an acquaintance of Hargis. Grundy County Highway Department employees drove a bulldozer onto the property and “cleaned up” a wooded area, the report states. Investigators could not determine if Hargis received any compensation for the work.

Other work has been performed at various Grundy County cemeteries, the report states. The department also maintained a portion of a private road that is owned by a department employee.

Comptroller investigators also noted Hargis allowed employees to work on their personal vehicles in the department garage during work hours. This activity is also prohibited by state law, officials said.

Comptroller investigators have reviewed their findings with 12th Judicial District Attorney General Mike Taylor, the report states.

Hargis could not be reached for comment, and a cellphone number for him had been disconnected.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has been investigating the department “for many months now,” Taylor said on Thursday.

“Now that the comptroller’s report has been released, TBI tells me that they’ll have their final report in the next couple of weeks,” Taylor said. “Once I have both reports, I can then decide what action to take.”