SYLACAUGA — City Schools Board Member Troy “Skip” Smithwick was indicted on two counts relating to campaign contributions by a Talladega County Grand Jury.

A spokesperson for the Talladega County Sheriff’s Department said Smithwick was charged on Friday and released on a $5,000 bond. The two charges were failure to file annual reports and improper reporting of contributions.

Both charges are Class B misdemeanors under state law.

The indictment stems from an investigation into contribution forms submitted by Smithwick during a 2008 campaign. That year, he ran in the Republican primary for the District 3 State School Board seat.

Under state law, all candidates are required to submit their annual contribution reports no later than Jan. 31 of the following year. Smithwick’s final report was dated as received Oct. 6, 2009, by the Secretary of State.

“I made an honest mistake,” he said. “All of the other things were reported on time.”

Donations totaling around $52,000 had not been reported until October. The previous report Smithwick had filed in May 2008 showed donations totaling approximately $253,000.

The second charge stated Smithwick failed to report a contribution from a group named The Real Democrat Political Action Committee. The group claimed a $100,000 contribution was made to “Smithwick for School Board” in their annual report received January 2009.

Jyles Machem, head of the Huntsville-based PAC, said in October that his group did not contribute any funds to Smithwick’s campaign.

“I had my folks go back and talk to the staff of Smithwick,” he said. “They were puzzled as we were. It turns out that what happened was the accountant reported it improperly. He’s correct in saying that he didn’t get any money from The Real Democrat PAC.”

Smithwick also denied receiving any money from the PAC.

“The $100,000 was a clerical error,” Smithwick said. “As far as I know, I’m the first one to be prosecuting for not filling out the papers on time.”

Smithwick had claimed on his reports a $100,000 contribution from another Huntsville-based group, called the Tennessee Valley PAC.

Both groups reported contributing $100,000 to the Smithwick campaign in May 2008, according to their annual reports. But an amended 2008 annual report from The Real Democrat, received Oct. 19, 2009, did not report any contribution to Smithwick.

Another apparent error appeared as both PACs claimed an $85,000 contribution to them in May from a group called the Senate Majority PAC. Senate Majority’s annual report showed only one $85,000 contribution being made, to The Real Democrat.

Both Tennessee Valley and Senate Majority PAC reports have the signature of Steve Raby as the “Chairperson or Treasurer of Political Committee.” Both groups are also listed at the same address.

Reports submitted by Tennessee Valley and Senate Majority had the signature of Wilma Henson as the notary public.

Wilma Henson’s name also appeared on reports from The Real Democrat PAC, as the chairperson or treasurer.

Smithwick said he believed the investigation was a “witch hunt.” He said he had spoken with someone from the Attorney General’s office about the matter in November.

“He had the bank statements, the receipts and disbursements, the contributions and they were all tallied up,” he said. “The only thing, the law says you have got to file by the end of the year that the election was. I forgot about it, didn’t realize it. I filed the 10-day report, the 45-day report, the other report and then [missed] the final one.”

Betty Peters, the District 2 representative for the state BOE, made the official complaint regarding Smithwick to Attorney General Troy King.

“This should be an example for all future candidates that the law has teeth and it will be enforced,” Peters said. “If somebody is going to be on the state school board making decisions affecting children and teachers, everybody makes mistakes but this is beyond a mistake.”

Questions had also been raised about a recent purchase of Smithwick’s, a recreational vehicle. Smithwick said he had paperwork that proved the purchase was made using his own funds.

“It was paid for with my money,” he said. “I have the cancelled checks and everything. It doesn’t have a thing to do with this, not one thing. The only thing I didn’t do right was not filing that last report.”