A little over a month after he resigned under a cloud of suspicion, former Union County Clerk of Court Brad Morris has been arrested for allegedly embezzling more than $200,000 during the first 10 months of this year.

Sixteenth Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett announced this morning Morris, 32, of 832 Webber Lake Road, Union, was arrested Tuesday by SLED Agent Scott Williams on the charges of embezzlement of public funds and misconduct in office. The warrants for Morris’ arrest state between January of this year and his resignation in October, Morris embezzled “public funds in excess of $200,000 and converted the funds to his personal use.”

Brackett stated each charge carries a potential sentence of 10 years in prison meaning Morris could face a maximum of 20 years in state prison.

The charges stem from an investigation into the misappropriation of public funds held in trust by Morris during his tenure as clerk of court. The investigation was initiated after Union County Sheriff David Taylor said he received a complaint Sept. 11 involving a $34 check from the child support account overseen by Morris. While the bank cashed the check, it reported the account to be overdrawn. Though the amount was small and the custodial parent received their money, Taylor said the status of the account “raised a red flag” with him. He said he felt there might be a potential problem with more checks and asked Brackett to have SLED investigate the matter.

Morris, who’d served as clerk of court for four years, resigned on Oct. 9 just as the SLED audit of his office was getting under way. In his letter of resignation to Gov. Mark Sanford, Morris explained he had begun “a very long road of recovery.”

“My physical and mental health must be my focus from this point forward and my energy must be centered on seeking forgiveness from God for my shortcomings,” the letter read.

Morris had reportedly been ill during the months leading up to his resignation, causing him to miss work on a number of occasions.

In addition to being contacted by Taylor, Brackett was also contacted by the South Carolina Courts Administration which had heard about the problems. He learned, too, DSS had conducted its own audit of the child support account.

Brackett has said the account should never be overdrawn because it is just a “pass-thru” account by which the court transfers child support payments from one parent to another.

Morris was booked into the Union County Jail by Agent Williams and taken in front of Union County Magistrate Jeff Bailey for a bond hearing. He was released Tuesday on a $30,000 surety bond.

Brackett said the next step in the process will be to determine if Morris wants to have a preliminary hearing and the charges being presented to the grand jury of Union County for consideration. Morris is represented by attorney Rick Veith of Spartanburg County.

Brackett stressed the charges against Morris are merely allegations at the present time and that the former clerk of court is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The investigation is continuing and Brackett said the final result of the audit is not expected for some time. He said the number of accounts, transactions and the length of time involved in collecting all the necessary records has taken longer than expected. He acknowledged the excellent work done by Williams and fellow SLED Agent Bob Cathey in the case and noted these cases were some of the most complex to investigate due to the volume of records involved and the accounting knowledge necessary to review and assess them.

Morris is one of a series of former Union County officials indicted/arrested over the past two months. A week before Morris’ resignation, then-county supervisor Donnie Betenbaugh, former sheriff Howard Wells, former tax assessor Willie Randall Jr. and Union County residents Lapriest Darnell Beacham and Willard Dee Farr were indicted on a wide range of federal corruption and drug charges.

Two days after Betenbaugh was indicted, Sanford suspended him from office. Sanford has since appointed former Union Public Safety officer Freddie Gault to serve as clerk of court and retired general and former educator Tommy Sinclair to serve as supervisor.