Judge Kelvin Jones, a Nashville-based judge who is seeking appointment to the Tennessee Supreme Court, said people from Alabama “keep money in mattresses, Mason jars and other places”.

An interview panel quizzed Judge Jones about admissions he made during his divorce, including that he accessed his ex-wife’s emails with her lawyer and at one point impersonated a man he believed was her lover.

One of the admissions was that he had buried $100,000 in cash while fighting off a bank’s attempt to recoup money from a failed hotel venture.

The judge is now facing a criminal investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on foot of the admissions, NewsChannel5 reports.

However, Judge Jones told the interview panel: “I’m not apologetic about how I save my money, where I store my money, or how I use my money.”