Clay Christensen illegally falsified documents in the attempt to use college funds to pay for a float for the Utah County Republican Party, state auditors said.

Though an accountant at the school warned Christensen the spending was illegal, according to the audit, Christensen continued to pursue routes to use the public funds.

State Auditor Auston Johnson said in a recent interview he turned over his findings to the Utah County Attorney's Office to determine if criminal prosecution was in order.

Christensen's boss at the time, then-Utah College of Applied Technology President Robert Brems, repeatedly stated in writing that he "advised [Christensen] that those [float] costs needed to be paid by private funds and that public funds could not be used."

Christensen, in his own written statement, said he could not recall the claimed warnings of Brems and others. "In fact, when questions were raised, I authorized and approved MATC personnel to seek legal advice and I believe I complied with all legal advice after it was provided to me."

Higher education officials who decided to keep Christensen in the president's post said there was no evidence he personally gained or intended to misuse public funds.

"We were concerned there were continued efforts to push [the money] through, but as we looked, we found he was trying to find the best way to take care of his obligations," said Jared Haines, acting UCAT president. UCAT is the governing organization of the system of 10 applied technology colleges.

Christensen was placed on paid leave from his $123,000 annual salary position Aug. 10, less than two weeks before the state audit was released to the public. An internal investigation confirmed auditors' findings but Haines, in consultation with the boards of UCAT and the Mountainland campus, determined to retain Christensen.

"It appears that President Christensen's efforts were to rectify errors as he became aware of them, and there was no personal gain or intent to misuse public funds," Haines said in a prepared statement.

The school's Web site (www.mlatc.edu) linked to a news release Thursday announcing Christensen's return with the words "Welcome Back Clay!!"

Johnson, the auditor, declined to comment on Thursday's announcement.

House Majority Leader David Clark, a member of the budget committee overseeing higher education, said he needed to make further inquiries on the issue before commenting.

But another member of the panel, Rep. John Dougall, R-Highland, agreed with the decision, calling Christensen "a good man."

"Clay made some mistakes and he'll learn from that and he won't make those mistakes again," he said, adding the actions of Christensen's former boss, Brems, were "much more egregious."

Brems resigned Sept. 19 after being on paid leave for about six weeks during an investigation by the state Board of Regents, which affirmed the earlier audit findings. Commissioner of Higher Education Richard Kendell granted Brems paid leave through Oct. 31, allowing him to collect an additional $16,000.

The parade float controversy began last May when Senate President John Valentine and Majority Leader Curt Bramble asked Christensen to have the college build the vehicle for the local party. Rep. Becky Lockhart, R-Provo, also was identified as being involved. Valentine has since said he had no role in the matter, while Bramble insisted he and Lockhart always intended to pay the costs.

Haines said he has no doubt Christensen can guide the school properly, and called the float controversy an "isolated incident."

smcfarland@sltrib.com