TUCKER COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – All three members of the Tucker County Commission have been charged with misdemeanor counts alleging they improperly approved the use of county funds to purchase a crossbow and ammunition for one of the commissioners.
Special Prosecuting Attorney James E. Shay Jr. filed misdemeanor criminal informations Thursday in Tucker County Circuit Court against Commission President Michael William Rosenau and Commissioners Frederick J. Davis Jr. and Timothy Paul Knotts.
Each is charged with one count of unauthorized expenditure by a local official under West Virginia law. The charges are allegations, and all three commissioners are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
According to court documents, a county general fund check for $3,990.75 was issued on Aug. 12, 2025, to Backbone Mountain Sports Center & Pawn LLC in Oakland, Maryland, for the purchase of a crossbow and ammunition that prosecutors allege was for Davis’ personal benefit.
The check was signed by Rosenau, along with the Tucker County sheriff and county clerk.
Prosecutors allege the Tucker County Commission voted unanimously during its Aug. 13, 2025, meeting to approve the expenditure after Knotts made the motion. Court records state the payment came from the commission’s capital outlay budget.
The filings also reference the commission’s “Sheriff’s Incentive Program,” which was established in 2019 to allow sheriff’s deputies to obtain law enforcement-related equipment using county funds up front and repay the cost through payroll deductions.
According to the court documents, Davis used the program five times between October 2020 and August 2025 to acquire personal property, including firearms, ammunition and other weapons. Prosecutors allege the items were repaid through payroll deductions over periods of at least one year without interest or collateral.
Following the criminal filings, West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Justice C. Haley Bunn issued an administrative order assigning Judge H. Charles Carl III of the 26th Judicial Circuit to oversee the cases after both judges in the 22nd Judicial Circuit voluntarily recused themselves.
