CHATSWORTH, Ga. — The employment of an assistant district attorney arrested for DUI on June 3 “will end at the end of the month by mutual agreement,” District Attorney Bert Poston said.

Matthew Rankin is the senior assistant district attorney in the Murray County office and has been with the district attorney’s office for around 20 years. He was stopped by a Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office deputy after his vehicle turned from a lane that was not the turn lane onto Underwood Road from the north bypass without using a turn signal, according to an incident report.

The deputy found an open container of ale on the floorboard and “at least 15 open containers of various beers” in the vehicle, according to the report. Rankin registered a .190 blood alcohol concentration on a preliminary breath test, the report said. The legal limit in Georgia for driving is .08.

Rankin was charged with DUI, open container violation, failure to use signal and improper turn. Poston, who was out of town at the time, placed Rankin on paid administrative leave until he returned on Monday.

“The paperwork has not been done yet as I’ve just gotten back in the office and playing catch-up,” Poston said Wednesday. “He will remain on administrative leave in the meantime. He should have his personal items removed from his office, and his keys, etc., turned in by the end of this week.”

Poston said all employees of the district attorney’s office are at will.

“His criminal charges, as I understand it, are still in lower court,” Poston said. “Dalton Municipal Court, I believe. My office is not involved in prosecution there. If he were to have it bound over to Superior Court, the procedure would be for me to notify the (state) Attorney General’s Office and they would then appoint another DA to handle the conflict. The case would remain in Whitfield County, though, unless the court granted a change of venue motion for some reason.”