A former Valley County employee has been charged with two counts of felony grand theft and four counts of felony forgery stemming from a forest-thinning project near Yellow Pine in 2006 that was not done, court documents said.

Lois Van Hoover, the county's former natural resources coordinator, has been charged with stealing more than $52,000 by the Idaho Attorney General's Office.

Van Hoover turned herself in to the Valley County Sheriff's Office Tuesday and was released on a $5,000 bond. Van Hoover will make her initial court appearance in Valley County Magistrate Court on Jan. 22 at 9:30 a.m.

The maximum sentence for grand theft is 14 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each count, and the maximum sentence for forgery is 14 years in prison for each count.

The Idaho Department of Lands awarded Valley County a $55,000 grant from federal funds for thinning on land in the Yellow Pine and Big Creek areas. Van Hoover helped the county secure the grant.

The county paid $52,770 for a thinning project that was supposed to have been completed by Back Country Services Inc., a, company owned by Van Hoover's son, Leo Van Hoover Jr. court documents said.

John Lillehaug and Kurt Nacarrato of the Idaho Department of Lands examined the areas of Yellow Pine and Big Creek in July for evidence that a thinning project had occurred, court documents said.

"Lillehaug did not identify any newly treated areas where hazardous fuels reduction treatment had been performed since 2002," the court documents said. "There was no evidence of recent clearing that could be attributed to BCS Inc."

Forged Invoices Claimed
Van Hoover forged an invoice for $17,856 on Oct. 16, 2006 and another invoice for $34,914 on Dec. 10, 2006 for forest thinning work in the Yellow Pine area that was supposed to have been completed by Back Country Services, court documents said.

Lois Van Hoover was paid $36,585 by her son, who told investigators that his mother instructed him to write the checks to her for specific amounts.

A handwriting test performed in the course of the investigation concluded her son's signature had been forged by Lois Van Hoover, the documents said.

Leo Van Hoover Jr. was living in Phoenix at the time and informed his mother that he could not perform the work. She said the work could be done by contractors, the court documents said.

Lois Van Hoover was shown the invoices by investigators, and she said the signatures appeared to be those of her son.

Leo Van Hoover was shown a copy of the invoices by investigators during an interview in Phoenix.

He said the signatures appeared to be the handwriting of his mother.

He went, on to say "that Lois never told him she created an invoice, nor did he give anyone permission to do so," the court documents said.

Van Hoover did not return a telephone message from The Star-News.

Valley County commission Chair Jerry Winkle said the incidents happened in 2006 before he took office.

"We caught it immediately after we took office," Winkle said. "It did not happen on our watch."

The county then eliminated Van Hoover's job at the county. "The position was no longer needed," Winkle said.

Heinrich Did Not Suspect The invoices were approved by former Valley County Clerk Lee Heinrich, who left the job after he was elected to the Idaho Senate in 2006.

Heinrich said Wednesday that he was surprised to hear about the charges against Van Hoover.

"I think there is some other explanation myself," said Heinrich, who left the clerk's job in January 2007 after he was elected to the Idaho State Senate. "I totally trusted and admired the lady for her expertise in natural resources."

Van Hoover worked directly for Valley County commissioners, but Heinrich approved the invoices for the Yellow Pine project before sending them to the federal government to be paid. He said he saw nothing unusual in the invoices.

Heinrich said he was interviewed by investigators from the attorney general's office about the case.

Van Hoover was hired by Valley County as its natural resource coordinator Dec. 9, 2003. She performed contract work for the county prior to being hired full time by the county. She received her last paycheck from the county on April 23, 2007.

During her employment with the county, her position changed from natural resources coordinator to intergovernmental relations.

The commissioners never created a job description for the positions, Valley County Attorney Matt Williams said.

Van Hoover was being paid an annual salary of $34,000 by the county at the time her position was eliminated.