The state attorney’s office has tweaked its charges against former Okaloosa County Commissioner James Campbell to add one felony count and drop eight misdemeanor charges from first to second degree.
Campbell originally faced 16 charges and a maximum of 48 years in prison. He now faces 17 charges and a maximum of just over 46 years in prison, Assistant State Attorney Russ Edgar said.
“These are technical changes made due to evidence obtained during the pretrial discovery process,” Edgar said.
Campbell’s trial is scheduled for Nov. 4. Contacted Wednesday, he continued to maintain his innocence.
“Basically, this is the same thing. It’s about a (income tax) disclosure,” he said of the change in the charges. “I would think our taxpayer dollars could be spent in better ways than this.”
The new felony charge of official misconduct “deals with obstruction of a law enforcement officer investigating the falsification of official statements,” Edgar said.
Campbell, who lives in Niceville, was arrested Sept. 17, 2012, and charged with four counts of official misconduct and four counts of perjury. Those charges were modified in February to add four more counts of each charge.
He now faces eight counts of making a false official statement and nine counts of official misconduct.
For 10 years, Campbell, Niceville’s director of parks and recreation, received a 20 percent commission for sponsorships he secured for the city’s annual Mullet Festival.
As a county commissioner, he was obligated to report any income over $1,000 to the Florida Commission on Ethics.
He has been charged with failing to report payments he received from the Mullet Festival’s coordinating committee while he was on the County Commission from 2004 to 2012.
Campbell claims his wife filled out his financial disclosure forms each year.
“If I had gotten a (tax form) 1099 … if my wife had gotten a 1099 from the Mullet Festival, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Campbell said.
Don Dewrell, Campbell’s attorney, did not return several phone calls this week seeking comment.
Two sponsorships Campbell received money for came from the county’s Tourist Development Council and Northwest Florida Regional Airport when he was a county commissioner.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office uncovered evidence against Campbell when investigating former TDC Director Mark Bellinger’s misuse of county bed tax and BP oil spill funds.
Campbell was removed from his seat on the County Commission the same day he was arrested.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Tom McLaughlin at 850-315-4435 or tmclaughlin@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomMnwfdn.