Fairchild Man Charged with Misconduct in Office Appears in Court
Thursday, March 10th, 2016 -- 11:20 AM
-A Fairchild man charged with misconduct in office appeared in Jackson County Court for a preliminary hearing on Tuesday.Phillip Hazard, who served as town clerk for the Town of Cleveland in Jackson County, is accused of calling his home a polling place during the 2015 spring election. Hazard was running for a supervisor position and the criminal complaint says there were biased results during the election.
During the preliminary hearing, many witnesses were called in and questioned as to whether Hazard’s use of his home as a polling place caused anyone to vote differently. One witness specifically stated that he couldn’t identify a single individual that was influenced by voting at Hazard’s home. It was also stated that the Government Accountability Board was notified on the issue and the matter is still open on their end.
In the end, a judge decided that the state had failed to prove probable cause behind the two felony charges against him which were misconduct in office, fail to perform known duty and misconduct in office, act in excess of authority. That leaves one charge, a forfeiture of campaign finance, fail to properly identify sponsor of political communication. The state now has 30 days to decide if they’ll file an amended complaint or information.
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