Office of the Attorney General
Attorney General Conway Announces Indictment against Former Lewis County Clerk

Attorney General Jack Conway and his Office of Special Prosecutions today announced the indictment of former Lewis County Clerk Shirley Hinton, 74, of Vanceburg. A Lewis County grand jury indicted Hinton on Friday, January 15, 2010 on six counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of property over $300, six counts of filing a false income tax return and one count of official misconduct first degree.

The indictment alleges that, in each of six years, Hinton took money in excess of $300 from the Lewis County Clerk’s Office while she acted as County Clerk and that she willfully filed a false personal income tax return in each of those years. The charges cover a time span from 1999 to 2008.

The charges are the result of an investigation and audit by the Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts and investigations by General Conway’s Department of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Kentucky Department of Revenue. The case was presented to the grand jury by the Attorney General’s Office of Special Prosecutions.

Hinton is represented by attorney Lloyd Spear of Vanceburg and is cooperating with investigators during this process.

A charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.