DAs On Your Dime: Mileage Claims & Mistletoe Money

District Attorneys On Your Dime:

Mileage Claims & Mistletoe Money

Chase Matheson - march 20, 2025

CUMBERLAND PLATEAU - The Patriot Punk Network has obtained documents suggesting multiple instances of potential waste, fraud, and abuse within a Tennessee District Attorney’s office. 
Red flags included one Assistant District Attorney who submitted over $3,000 in mileage claims as well as potential office-wide abuse of paid-time-off totaling nearly $50,000 each Christmas.

Potential Mileage Reimbursement Abuse
The first instance of potential waste or abuse centers around the mileage claims of Assistant District Attorney Jessie Mayberry. A closer look at her mileage reimbursement records reveals a pattern that raises serious questions about the validity of her travel, and hints at broader issues within the office that warrant further scrutiny.

Jessie Mayberry is a Domestic Violence prosecutor working out of Livingston, TN. Her reported daily travel shows a drive from Cookeville to Livingston and back to Cookeville. The round trip of 44 miles was driven nearly 100 times between the end of June and November of 2024. This 44-mile roundtrip garnered ADA Mayberry $29.48 per trip and totaled thousands. (Article Continues Below)

Credit: (2022) Overton News Facebook

On the surface, this might seem like routine business travel for an Assistant District Attorney. However, the consistency and frequency of these claims suggest something more concerning: Mayberry may be collecting mileage reimbursements for what amounts to her daily commute.
(Article continues below)

Mileage Forms Part 1:

Under most government policies, including Policy 8 from the Department of Finance which governs TN District Attorneys' offices, mileage reimbursement is intended to cover work-related travel. This would include trips taken after you clock-in and start your day, but not the routine commute between an employee’s home and their primary workplace. Driving to another work station for the purpose of claiming part of your commute as work-related travel is likely frowned upon, and possibly illegal.

If Mayberry resides in Cookeville, and Livingston is her assigned base of operations—or vice versa—these daily claims could represent an improper use of taxpayer dollars.  Mayberry's starting location for each day was consistently the Cookeville office, indicating that this was her primary work station. However, there are a three times when this pattern changes.
On July 15, 2024, Mayberry began her day in Livingston and logged a round trip to Sparta; the same occurred on July 26, 2024. Then, on September 25, 2024 she somehow made a round trip from Livingston to Livingston and was reimbursed for a familiar 44 miles.
(Article Continues Below)

Mileage Forms Part 2:

In total, from June 24 through November 30 Mayberry accrued ~$3,023.04 in mileage reimbursement, with monthly reimbursements ranging form ~$500 - ~$800. This figure does not include other travel related expenses. All of these reimbursements were approved by District Attorney Bryant Dunaway.
The Patriot Punk Network reached out to both ADA Mayberry and General Dunaway for an explanation, but did not receive a response from either.

Extra PAID Time Off
Mileage reimbursements aren't the only red flag we found when sampling the records from the 13th Judicial District Attorney's Office. The Patriot Punk Network also discovered that the entire office closes for nearly two weeks every Christmas. During this time employees are still paid.

In a review of more than five years worth of timesheets, the 13th DAG office has closed every year for the days leading up to Christmas and lasting through the new year, usually from December 23 through January 2.
This may be permissible under state law, but what is likely NOT permitted is paying employees for time not worked, or the use of State Holiday pay to compensate employees for days that ARE NOT recognized state holidays.

The 13th DAG falls under the control of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference. This means that time-off for employees must comply with state guidelines. In Tennessee, the Governor declares which days are recognized as state holidays. In 2024, the holidays relevant to this issue would have been December 24 & 25, and January 1, 2025.

Salaries supplied by the TNDAGC

Upon reviewing the timesheets for the Criminal Division and the Child Support Division (some of which are available at the bottom of this article), it seems that some employees reported working a full day-despite the office being closed. Others claimed holiday pay for the days the office was closed; some logged administrative time, while others split their time between work and non-duty administrative time. 

The common denominator is that it seems none of the employees used accrued time-off to compensate for the closure of the office. Only one employee, Hillary Brown, indicated 0 hours worked for the days the office was closed. Brown did however claim New Years Eve as a holiday, though it was not officially recognized as such. 

A rough comparison of salaries available for the office and the timesheets we were given estimates the cost of this time off to exceed $50,000 annually, and totals over $250,000 since 2018. Though District Attorneys are given leeway for office closures, and are authorized to allow individuals to work from home during extraordinary circumstances, it's clear from the following email that this was considered "extra time off."

"With this extra time off, enjoy your families, recharge and be ready to fight the good fight another year."
- Bryant C Dunaway (December 3, 2024)

It is possible that some of the employees actually performed some work during their "extra time off." However, since this time was specifically referred to as "extra time off" it makes an investigation by the State absolutely necessary.

If District Attorney's have the ability to close down offices and reward holiday pay as they see fit, what is stopping them from taking off additional holidays, like National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day (January 9) or National Peace Officers Memorial Day (May 15)? 

Just as with the mileage concerns, we reached out to General Dunaway for comment and clarification, but did not receive a response. It's important to note that at the end of last year Chief Bill Randolph of the Monterey Police Department was indicted for skipping a paid work training. He is currently being prosecuted by General Bryant Dunaway's office. Ironically, one Child Support Investigator who logged time while the office was closed, John Mackie, has now taken over Chief Randolph's roll as Chief of Monterey Police.

Featured below are a sampling of some of the timesheets and emails we obtained. The entire document was several hundreds of pages and could not be uploaded efficiently.

The Patriot Punk Network will continue to investigate these cases and pursue accountability for any misuse of government funds. If you'd like to report potential waste fraud or abuse, please email us with information at Tips@PatriotPunkNetwork.com