Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 6:50 p.m. on Aug. 24 to clarify how the investigation began and correct the year it began.
MOUNT VERNON — Former Mount Vernon Municipal Court Clerk Stephanie Hardman faces eight felony counts after a Knox County grand jury indicted her on Monday.
The charges, all third-degree felonies, include one count each of theft in office and telecommunications fraud, and three counts each of money laundering and tampering with records.
The charges stem from an investigation by the Ohio Auditor of State’s office into more than $7,000 missing from the municipal clerk’s office. A city audit, completed by the accounting firm Wilson, Shannon & Snow, discovered that $7,749.05 was unaccounted for during 2018.
In December 2018, Knox County Municipal Court Judge John Thatcher requested the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation to investigate allegations of theft in the clerk’s office. BCI&I turned the investigation over to the auditor’s office in 2019, and the auditor’s office began its investigation in February 2019.
Thatcher terminated Hardman on Feb. 7, 2020. She became clerk of courts on Nov. 25, 2015.
“I am always disappointed whenever I hear a public official accused of violating the public’s trust,” Thatcher told Knox Pages on Monday afternoon. “In this case, as in every case, we’ll let the legal system run its course.”
Hardman is scheduled to appear in Knox County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday, Sept. 2.
The grand jury also returned the following indictments in Monday’s session:
–Adam M. Saunders, Centerburg, aggravated possession of drugs, fifth-degree felony.
–Joshua A. Beeman, Fredericktown, burglary, second-degree felony; intimidation of a witness in a criminal case, third-degree felony; aggravated menacing, first-degree misdemeanor; criminal trespass, fourth-degree misdemeanor; resisting arrest, second-degree misdemeanor.
–Austin D. Colopy, Danville, rape, first-degree felony; gross sexual imposition, fourth-degree felony.
–Melvin J. Yoder, Danville, domestic violence, fifth-degree felony.
–Serena M. Litt, Mount Vernon, aggravated possession of drugs, fifth-degree felony.
–Jesse J. Ervin, Fredericktown, aggravated possession of drugs, fifth-degree felony.
