The former chief of the Knox County Sheriff's Auxiliary unit is out of jail on bond.
After being arrested Wednesday morning.
James Nelson had been the chief of the Knox County volunteer police unit.
But after he stepped down as chief, he stopped showing up at the group meetings.
And the financial records stopped showing up too.
As chief of the Sheriff's Auxiliary, Nelson and his team helped out the department.
They secured crime scenes, helped with traffic control, and would help guard inmates in the jail.
None of the auxiliary members are paid, but the group has a budget.
It's funded entirely by donations, no tax dollars support the auxiliary.
Now, Nelson is accused of spending over three thousand dollars of the budget on personal items.
He's been a part of the auxiliary unit since 2003.
And just wrapped up his role as chief of the unit three months ago.
But he stopped attending the monthly meetings.
He had control over the budget, and the rest of the group could not get the records from him.
The sheriff's paid deputies had to recover the missing reports themselves.
Deputies found checks and check stubs missing.
Detectives say Nelson wrote checks from the auxiliary account to pay for a computer, home office supplies, and a demolition vehicle.
He's been charged with two felonies.
Official misconduct and theft.
These new charges are the only felony charges that appear on his record.
He had to pass a background check to join the auxiliary back in 2003.
We were unsuccessful in reaching Nelson for his side of the story.
Knox County Sheriff David Clague was unavailable for comment.
Nelson is due in court next month.
A captain with the sheriff's department says the auxiliary's money-handling polices have been updated.
It now takes two signatures when writing a check.
