Former Van Buren official arrested for drugs, theft

The former second in command in Van Buren County has been charged with carrying a briefcase of drugs into a meeting with the district attorney ‘ a meeting which ended with his arrest and seizure of his marijuana.

However, that arrest is only half the trouble for William W. ‘Wil’ Simons, as he also faces charges in his home county for allegedly taking county funds while he served as administrative assistant in the county executive’s office in Van Buren County.

Simons, 50, will face arraignment before Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley in Spencer on July 23 on three counts of official misconduct and one count of theft over $1,000. The charges stem from Simons reportedly opening a credit card in the county’s name.

According to a government audit that is public record, ‘Our review of the credit card statements indicated the purchases did not appear to be for county business purposes, but were for the personal use of the administrative assistant.’

According to the audit, Simons had the billing address for the credit card changed to his personal address when County Executive Carolyn Houston lost in the August 2006 general election.

He maintained possession of the card and continued to use it after he left county employment, the audit says.

The card was eventually confiscated Oct. 3, 2006 when Simons attempted to use it in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., the audit says.

Current Van Buren County Executive Kelly Dishman says Simons played a large role in leaving the county in a financial situation it is still trying to recover from today.

‘We’re still dealing with cleanup on a daily basis,’ said Dishman. ‘The first day I came into office, Sept. 1, it was a payroll day. I had to borrow $105,000 my first day of office, and had borrowed $393,000 in tax anticipation notes by my eighth day.’

‘They paid things that weren’t in the budget,’ continued Dishman. ‘And they didn’t pay things that were in the budget.’

Simons was taken into custody recently when he arrived at the district attorney’s office where he was called to meet with prosecutors, not knowing they had indictments waiting on him. When Simons walked into the office, he was arrested on the Van Buren County indictments.

It was at that point, during a search after to his arrest, that lawmen opened a briefcase which was in his possession. Inside, warrants say officers found a small amount of a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana along with a pipe used to smoke the illegal drug. Lawmen admit they are puzzled as to why Simons would carry a briefcase containing marijuana into a meeting with the district attorney.