NASHVILLE (AP) — The legislative aide of a state senator has been fired after it was revealed he was doing political work on state time for a Democratic state Senate candidate.

TNReport, an online news service, first reported that Derek Hummel, who worked for Democratic Sen. Ophelia Ford, was fired earlier this week.

According to the news report, Hummel was drawing an annual salary of $30,468 while also being paid by the campaign of Senate candidate Phillip North.

Phone records, Facebook postings and other documents reviewed by TNReport showed Hummel had been conducting activities during state business hours on his state-issued computer.

North issued a statement Wednesday night saying the man worked for his campaign briefly but was released several weeks ago. North said the man worked for the campaign at nights on weekends and told the campaign the arrangement had been cleared with his supervisors.

Ford's office did not immediately return a phone message on Wednesday.