GOSHEN — The deputy clerk of courts for Elkhart County is headed to trial next month on charges of overpaying office supervisors.
Deputy Clerk Carol Smith and Clerk of the Court Chris Anderson are both charged with official misconduct as a Level 6 felony and criminal conversion as a Class A misdemeanor. They were indicted in September after a grand jury heard allegations that they approved the expenditure of public funds without authorization.
Supervisors were allegedly being paid for 80 hours of work every two weeks but were only required to put in 72 hours. Anderson told investigators that the supervisors were allowed to work flexible hours around the demands of a given week.
Smith was in court Thursday to confirm that she is prepared to go to trial on Jan. 12. Her attorney also agreed with Elkhart County Prosecutor Vicki Becker that they expect the trial to last two days.
Attorney A. Robert Masters told Circuit Court Judge Michael Christofeno that prosecutors had turned over 400 pages worth of discovery documents. Masters said he doesn’t know if Smith will call her own witnesses or if they will rely on the witnesses that the state calls.
Masters argued last month that the charges against Smith should be dismissed, a motion that Christofeno denied. Masters said Smith technically could not be accused of conversion because the state hasn’t identified a specific sum of money, and because she has no control over the public purse in Elkhart County.
Anderson is set for trial separately on Jan. 12, though that may change during his next scheduled court hearing on Jan. 8.
