Elkhart County’s Chief Deputy Clerk is expected to go to trial early next year.

Carol Smith is scheduled for trial January 12 after being charged with official misconduct, a Level Six felony, and criminal conversion, a Class A misdemeanor.

Smith was charged alongside Elkhart County Clerk Christopher Anderson by the county prosecutor’s office in September.

According to court documents, investigators were alerted to concerns that certain clerk employees were being paid for hours they did not actually work, a practice believed to have gone on for years.

The Goshen News says a State Board of Accounts report found the practice violated county policy.

Following a criminal investigation and grand jury review, both Anderson and Smith were formally charged.