A former Claiborne County assistant chief jailer faces charges he assaulted an inmate in May, but his attorney says he followed written policy to the letter.

A grand jury indicted Mark Steven Ellis last week on charges of assault and official oppression after a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation probe. Ellis, 38, was serving as the county's assistant jail administrator when he used an electric stun gun on an inmate struggling with a half-dozen officers May 30, records show.

Ellis, who was fired after the struggle, turned himself in Monday to be booked into the jail he once helped oversee. He remained free on $5,000 bond. His lawyer says he'll plead not guilty.

"All my client’s actions were consistent with the published policies of the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Office," said attorney T. Scott Jones. "We have nothing to hide, and I find it a reach that, were these policies shared with the grand jury, this indictment would have been returned."

Procedure followed?

Claiborne County Sheriff's Office policies provided by Jones ban using stun guns to punish inmates but allow their use "to control a detainee that otherwise cannot be controlled by any other means or for personal protection for an aggressive inmate." Sheriff Bob Brooks and a TBI spokeswoman didn't immediately return requests for comment.

Jones said he's waiting to see whether local prosecutors will recuse themselves from the case.

The May 30 struggle erupted when inmate Robert Davis Jr. fought with jailers as they tried to strap him into a restraint chair, according to sheriff's office records. As Davis punched, kicked and spat on officers, Ellis drew his stun gun and used it once, he wrote in a report.

“The Taser had the appropriate effect and inmate Robert Davis (then) complied with commands,” Ellis wrote. "No officers or inmate was harmed."

Ellis could make his first court appearance July 29.