A chief detective with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office is facing felony charges following an investigation by TBI special agents.
At the request of the 12th Judicial District Attorney General Courtney Lynch, TBI special agents began investigating suspicions about forged signatures on the Sex Offender Registry forms. Robert Hargis (DOB 2/10/1971) served as the Sex Offender Registry Compliance Officer for the Marion County Sherriff’s office and was responsible for obtaining the required signatures from registered offenders to confirm legal compliance. Through the course of the investigation agents determined several of the signatures on sex offender documents were falsified.
On Tuesday, the Marion County Grand Jury returned a 10-count indictment charging Hargis with two counts of Official Misconduct and eight counts of Tampering with Government Records. He turned himself into the Marion County Jail where his bond was set at $25,000. He has since bonded out of jail. District Attorney General Lynch voluntarily recused herself from the case. District Attorney General Pro Tem D. Michael Dunavant of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference in Nashville was appointed to prosecute the case by the courts.