Short time on the job

CLINTON — A probationary corrections officer with the Anderson County Sheriff's Office lost her job and her freedom Tuesday when she was arrested after authorities said she was bringing narcotics into an inmate.

Kaitlin Paige Hardin, 21, of Lenoir City, was fired and charged with manufacture/delivery/sale/possession of a controlled substance and introduction of drugs into a penal institution.

According to a press release from the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, Investigator Danny Bowie with the Anderson County Detention Facility received information that Hardin was bringing narcotics to an inmate. Bowie reported that he and investigators with the Special Operations Unit conducted a sting operation, offering Hardin prescription narcotics that were to be brought to the inmate. Hardin was taken into custody and charged in connection with the incident, authorities said,

Bowie reported a subsequent investigation revealed Hardin also brought narcotics to an inmate in the detention facility on an earlier date. She was charged with those offenses as well. According to a news release, Hardin had been a probationary corrections officer since November 2011.

Hardin was held in jail without bond pending arraignment, the sheriff's office said.

Short time on the job: Jailer accused of bringing drugs to inmate