With White Pine County Sheriff Dan Watts and investigators from the Nevada Department of Public Safety Investigation Division probing possible improprieties in the County Clerk's office from several years ago, the county commission discussed the possibility of having to expend between $9,000 and $10,000 for a forensic audit Aug. 27. No decision was made.

District Attorney Rich Sears told the commission that he was still trying to determine if he could prove a case in court before deciding if hiring an outside forensic auditor would be necessary.

The commission's discussion included that state investigators had insufficient evidence of fraud against a former county employee and that Sheriff Dan Watts was working with the state Public Safety Investigation Division, formerly the Nevada Division of Investigation, to determine if there was sufficient evidence to advance the case to prosecution.

“Right now all we can say is it is under investigation,” Watts said Thursday. He added that he hoped the case could be resolved during the coming months.

When asked if criminal charges could be pending, the sheriff responded, “There could be.”

The former employee of the County Clerk's office has not been identified publicly.

The county commission discussed an ongoing investigation of discrepancies on Feb. 27 when they approved audited financial statements for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2006.

Watts said the timeframe under investigation dates back earlier than 2006.