A hearing Thursday where a former Skamania County auditor accused of shredding public documents was scheduled to plead guilty was postponed indefinitely.
The attorney for J. Michael Garvison and a special prosecutor had scheduled a guilty plea hearing, but haven’t yet worked out a resolution in the case, said Skamania County Prosecutor Adam Kick. Once attorneys have agreed on a resolution, the hearing will be rescheduled.
Garvison, 40, is charged with two felony counts of injury to public record for allegedly shredding documents that authorities have said showed unauthorized spending during his tenure. The records were vouchers that showed Garvison’s expenditures in 2003 and 2004. A state audit had found Garvison used thousands of dollars in public money for unauthorized travel, education and office equipment expenses during four years as the county’s elected auditor. He resigned in November 2009.
His case was moved to Clark County after a judge in Skamania County ruled that he couldn’t have a fair trial there because of the extensive local publicity.
