WALTERS – A jur y trial for Cotton County Commissioner Micah Lee “Mike” Woods on a felony charge of embezzlement is scheduled for April 8-10 in district co urt here, records filed on the Oklahoma State Courts Network show.
District Judge Emmit Tayloe will preside over the trial, Southwest Ledger was told.
The 20th Oklahoma Multi-County Grand Jury alleged that in June 2022, Woods, 63, of Walters, used county employees during work hours, and in the Cotton County District 1 barn at 1124 W. Colorado Ave. in Walters, “to build campaign signs for his personal use” for his reelection campaign in November 2022.
Woods, a Republican, was first elected county commissioner in 2018. He was reelected four years later when he trounced his Democratic opponent by a 2-to-1 margin in the 2022 general election, receiving 66% of the votes cast.
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Joe Kimmons said in an affidavit that he interviewed all District 1 employees and several of them “admitted they helped Woods build campaign signs on county time during the workday around June 2022” at the District 1 headquarters.
After Woods was read his Miranda rights, he was interviewed “and denied he allowed or asked employees to make campaign signs while they were on county time,” Kimmons wrote in his sworn affidavit.
Woods was charged with embezzlement on Jan. 9, 2023. “ There is sufficient evidence to support a finding of probable cause” that Woods committed the crime, Associate District Judge Dennis L. Gay ruled on July 21, 2023.
Woods is free on $10,000 bond, court records reflect.