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PARSONS – Two of the three Tucker County commissioners facing misdemeanor charges will share a hearings and trial schedule, a judge ordered Tuesday afternoon.
Pre-trial hearings were held Tuesday for Tucker County Commission President Michael William Rosenau, Commissioner Frederick J. Davis Jr., and Commissioner Timothy Paul Knotts. The three are each charged with one misdemeanor count of unauthorized expenditure by a local official.
Presiding over the hearings was Judge H. Charles Carl III of the 26th Judicial Circuit of Hampshire, Hardy and Pendleton counties. He was assigned by a West Virginia Supreme Court Administrative Order to preside over these cases. The two 22nd Judicial Circuit judges, Hilary M. Bright and Steven L. Shaffer, voluntarily recused themselves.
During a joint hearing for Rosenau and Knotts, both men’s attorneys asked the court if the two could have their trials together as their cases are similar. Preston County Prosecutor James Shay Jr., who has been assigned the special prosecutor for all three cases, said he had no objection to that. Carl agreed with the attorneys that Rosenau and Knotts’ cases were similar and he granted the defenses’ motion.
A second pre-trial hearing for both Knotts and Rosenau will be held on Dec. 17 at 10:30 a.m., while a second pre-trial hearing for Davis has been scheduled for Jan. 21 at 1:30 p.m.
Officials say commissioners approved a Sheriff's Incentive Program in May 2019, allowing deputiesto buy law‑enforcement‑related items with county funds, repaid via payroll deductions. Prosecutors allege Davis used the program five times between 2020 and August 2025 to purchase personal items without authorization
More details about the three pre-trial hearings will be posted to theintermountain.com and printed in the Thursday edition of The Inter-Mountain.