Former county auditor accused of ordering staff to shred docs.

STEVENSON, Wash. - A former Skamania County auditor appeared in court Thursday on felony charges that he ordered his staff to shred public documents.

Investigators say those papers likely showed J. Michael Garvison spent taxpayer money on questionable things. Records of Garvison’s expenditures are missing in 2003 and 2004.

Garvison pled not guilty to the two counts against him during his arraignment.

A state auditor found he used public money for unauthorized out-of-state travel, going back to school, extra mileage and electronics.

In his last two years he reportedly billed the county for $83,000.

Gloria Howell blew the whistle on Garvison after she said her daughter was wrongly fired.

"People could have done something different but they were afraid to come forward. They were afraid for their jobs," Howell said. "We had a former elected official who did not do his job. And so I think it amounts to we all have to be responsible, and we all have to stand up."

Garvison resigned in 2009 after KATU News broke the story. Then last year, in a plea deal with the state, he was charged with a misdemeanor. But after community outrage, the county got the case back to pursue the felony charges.

After his resignation, he got another public job in Oregon City. Despite being the questions surrounding his time as Skamania County auditor, the Clackamas County Soil and Water Conservation District kept Garvison in place until quietly eliminating his job this summer. Then in December those felony charges were filed.

Garvison was not charged with more crimes for those unauthorized expenses because, sources said, while inappropriate, they may not have been illegal. The stronger case was likely the shredding of documents.
 
Garvison now lives in Ohio. If convicted, he faces up to a year in jail. He declined to speak to KATU News Thursday. He is expected to ask for a change of venue to get his trial out of the small town of Stevenson.