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A former eastern Utah sheriff facing felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly using his county-issued vehicle and a search-and-rescue trailer to move to his new home in southern Utah made his initial appearance in a Price courtroom on Friday.

Former Carbon County Sheriff James Cordova, 53, is charged in 7th District Court with one third-degree felony count of misusing public money and one class C misdemeanor count of license plate and registration violation.

During a Friday court hearing, a March 20 preliminary hearing was set. At that hearing, prosecutors will present evidence and a judge will decide whether there is probable cause that Cordova committed the crimes and should stand trial.

In a probable cause statement written by Ed Spann, an attorney general's office investigator, state attorneys say that between December 2013 and April 2014, Cordova used his county-issued vehicle and a county trailer to move personal household items from his home in Carbon County to St. George.

During the moves, Cordova allegedly used a county credit card about 26 times to buy more than $2,000 worth of gasoline at locations in five Utah counties.

Court papers also say the search-and-rescue trailer used to move Cordova's family furnishings was affixed with a license plate which was registered to another county trailer. The documents state Cordova has admitted to investigators that he had switched the plates.

"My client maintains his innocence," Cordova's attorney, Greg Law, said Friday. "We'll now have to clear his name in the legal system."

Law declined to comment further about the case.

Cordova was booked and released into the Emery County Jail on Friday, according to the Emery County Sheriff's Office.

Cordova was first elected to office in 1999. He did not file for re-election this year and bought a house in St. George some months ago.

The Carbon County prosecutor's office launched an investigation of Cordova last March after citizens registered complaints about the sheriff with the county commissioner's office. The findings were turned over for further investigation to the Utah Attorney General's Office.

Cordova remained on the job throughout the investigation until his final term as sheriff expired at the end of the 2014 calendar year. Jeff Wood was sworn in as sheriff on Monday.

Twitter: @jm_miller