Former Warren County Sheriff’s Department investigator, Steven Carpenter, pleaded guilty to three counts of official misconduct and will be on probation. 

On Thursday, District Attorney General for the 14th Judicial District Craig Northcott released a statement regarding the Carpenter investigation. In the release Northcott says in September of 2022, the Warren County Sheriff’s Department conducted an evidence audit following the change of administration. During the audit, irregularities were discovered in certain records and evidence. 

These concerns were brought to District Attorney Chris Stanford. Stanford requested a special prosecutor be appointed and the case was assigned to Northcott. Northcott enlisted the help of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as well as investigators to look into it. 

“After several months of thorough investigation, evidence was developed to show that Steven Carpenter, now former investigator with the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, had failed to perform his job duties to properly secure and document evidence in multiple cases. There was nothing found to suggest that any evidence was improperly used or sold by Mr. Carpenter. However, his failure to perform his job duties compromised the ability to use evidence to achieve justice through the prosecution of those committing criminal offenses in Warren County and caused doubt as to the sanctity of evidence used, at least in part, as the basis of pending cases,” said Northcott in the release. 

In June, Northcott sought indictments against Carpenter for three counts of official misconduct, which are class E felonies. The Warren County Grand Jury returned such indictments. 

On July 12, 2023, Carpenter entered a conditional guilty plea in the Warren County Circuit Court to all three charges. Pursuant to the agreement, Carpenter consented to the court order removing his police officer standards and training certification which forever bars him from serving as a police officer in Tennessee. Carpenter also received a five-year sentence, which was suspended to probation. The range of the sentence for Carpenter was one to six years. Carpenter must meet specific conditions of probation, and if he does, he can petition the court for an expungement of the conviction from his record. 

“Mr. Carpenter failed in his duties in such a way to lessen the confidence of the public in the criminal justice system. For that, he has lost his career, required to be on probation and face a five-year prison sentence if he fails to meet the conditions placed on him. Those of us entrusted with the duty and responsibility to fairly enforce the criminal laws of this state must be held accountable when we fail to do so. That said, Mr. Carpenter faithfully served his community for nearly two decades. Through that, he suffered scars that led to his recent failures. That also has been recognized in this agreement,” said Northcott.