Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer is defending the hire of his girlfriend to the department as a special assistant.The outgoing commissioner told CN 2 Pure Politics he checked with the department's legal staff before making the decision and that non-merit hiring in state government is based on personal relationships."There was nothing improper done," he says. "Everything was done above board and that's just the way it is. I think it's a slow news day when that's the big story."Check it out: