By Liz Beavers
lbeavers@newstribune.info
tribune managing editor

PIEDMONT — Former Piedmont Town Clerk Linda Butler was arrested Monday and charged with felony embezzlement of approximately $30,000.
Cpl. H.C. Myers of the Keyser Detachment, West Virginia State Police, confirmed Wednesday that Butler, of 127 E. Hampshire St. in Piedmont,  had been arrested and charged in connection with a long-term investigation.
He declined to comment further on the case, however, noting that the investigation had been started by another trooper who has since left the department.
 “It was handed to me,” he said.
Butler appeared before Mineral County Magistrate Sue Roby on Monday and was released on $2,500 cash bond.
News of the arrest came as a surprise Wednesday to Piedmont Mayor Ebbie Gilmore and Town Clerk Betsy Rice, who were aware of the investigation but had not yet heard that Butler had been arrested on Monday.
Rice, who began volunteering in the Piedmont town office when Butler was still the clerk, said the investigation had been based upon “information the auditor gave them following an audit of Fiscal Year 2005-2006.”
“The investigation goes back quite awhile,” Gilmore confirmed.
Butler resigned in August 2006, and the town officially hired Rice in September of
that year.
Although Councilman Mickey Racco could not be reached for comment Wednesday,  published reports from a Sept. 13 Piedmont Council meeting quoted him as saying “bills weren’t being paid” during Butler’s time as the towns’ clerk.
“There were a lot of old bills and things that weren’t being paid,” he said.
Rice said Wednesday that all of those problems “are being addressed” and referred other questions about the alleged unpaid bills to Racco.
Myers said the investigation is continuing and additional charges may be forthcoming.
Butler now has until Nov. 30 to request a preliminary hearing in Magistrate Court. If she does not requests a hearing, the case will be automatically transferred to Circuit Court.