Upshur County Sheriff’s Office investigating former district clerk’s handling of funds

Published 3:05 pm Friday, August 30, 2024

From Staff Reports

Upshur County law enforcement is investigating whether the county’s former district clerk mishandled funds while in office.

District Attorney Billy Byrd on Thursday asked the sheriff’s office to conduct a criminal investigation into former District Clerk Nicole Hernandez, Upshur County Sheriff Larry Webb said in a statement Friday afternoon. Hernandez resigned Thursday.

Reached via phone, Webb declined to provide additional comment. The findings of the investigation will be handed over to the district attorney’s office.

Upshur County Judge Dean Fowler appointed Melissa Chevalier to serve as the county’s district clerk. She took office Friday, Webb said in the statement.

The news of the investigation is the latest controversy to engulf the district clerk’s office. Hernandez took office in October 2022 after her predecessor, Karen Bunn, was suspended without pay through December of that year.

Bunn was suspended because three attorneys — David Griffith, Matthew R. Patton and Brandon Winn — filed a petition to remove her from office, saying she was not present in her office at the courthouse and was neglecting her duties. The petition alleged that Bunn failed to file legal documents properly and assigned tasks to employees who weren’t properly trained to handle them, the News-Journal previously reported.

Bunn said she was not present in the courthouse office because of serious medical issues she faced after tripping over torn carpet in her office in March 2019. She said the petition was a personal attack against her.

Hernandez, a Republican, filed to run for the district clerk’s office and was unopposed. Her term of office began in January 2023.

When Bunn was removed from office, some employees in the office resigned, leaving two who weren’t properly trained, Hernandez told the News-Journal in October 2022. She said that, after she took office, the office was running more smoothly, and staff were working to correct issues discussed in the lawsuit.