By Sarah Richardson
A lawsuit has been filed against County Commissioner Mike McClung in Greenbrier County Circuit Court regarding an alleged incident involving stolen airport property, which occurred on August 23, 2019.
A document filed on Jan. 22 by Special Prosecuting Attorney Brian Parson states, “Michael McClung did knowingly, willfully and without authorization, directly or indirectly, access or caused to be accessed a computer or computer network belonging to Greenbrier Valley Airport with the intent to obtain computer services by physically removing a computer hard drive from the Greenbrier Valley Airport and later making duplicates of the aforesaid hard drive.”
The incident in question was addressed at an Aug. 27, 2019 Greenbrier County Commission meeting when Airport Authority Chair Deborah Phillips made a public comment in a plea for “a safe, stress-free work environment” at the airport.
In a prepared statement from Acting Airport Manager Martha Livesay, Phillips related that Livesay claims McClung, “who’s an official with a commanding stance and who she perceives as threatening,” had continued to interact with employees, ordering them and herself to counter directions given by the board, despite the fact he had been removed from the Greenbrier Valley Airport Authority earlier that year and replaced with Commissioner Tammy Shifflett-Tincher.
At this time, it was also accidentally discovered that McClung allegedly took an external hard drive and other items from the office of former Airport Director Stephen Snyder. Livesay and staff were afraid they could be accused of doing something wrong if things are found missing, since they had cleaned up the office, backed up the files and boxed up the computers.
McClung later admitted to entering the airport and taking the hard drive and copying its contents, but he denying having viewed the information.
Initially, no action or legal accusations were made, however, the prosecuting attorney’s office was contacted, and McClung was banned from airport property.
McClung is now facing three charges: unauthorized access to computer services, unauthorized possession of computer data or programs, and unauthorized possession of computer information. More updates will be available as the case progresses.