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Don Gronning
NEWPORT — The Metaline clerk treasurer was arrested Monday and charged with misappropriation of about $100,000 from the town, according to a probable cause statement read in court.
Kelly R. Flanagan, 54, was charged with misappropriation etc. by treasurer, a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. She appeared in court for a first appearance Tuesday, July 1.
District Court Judge Robin McCroskey found that Flanagan was eligible for a public defender. Prosecuting attorney Samantha Brookman said Flanagan had little criminal history, other than a conviction for first-degree identity theft, and didn’t ask for bail.
McCroskey released Flanagan on her own recognizance. Arraignment is set for Thursday, July 3 in Pend Oreille County Superior Court.
According to the probable cause statement, earlier this year, a Pend Oreille County commissioner was looking into why the county had not been paid for road work done in 2024 that would have been paid for by a grant. Several attempts were made to get hold of Flanagan about the money but failed, with the excuse that, “The check is in the mail.”
Metaline Mayor Pete Daggett asked Pend Oreille County Sheriff Glenn Blakeslee to have Flanagan removed from City Hall after Daggett and mayor pro-tem Janet Sullivan found supporting evidence of fraud made through the city’s bank accounts, according to the probable cause statement. They believed that the charges were made only by Flanagan.
In addition, according to the probable cause statement, Daggett and Sullivan slowly realized the extent of the alleged theft. They had not been paid for some time but had received W-2 forms for their work as mayor and city council member.
When Daggett was asked by the deputy investigating the fraud how much money he thought was missing, he said he thought between $12,000 and $100,000.
The deputy then got the statements of the town’s credit card, money market account and checking account. After looking through each month’s statement starting in May 2019, it appeared the mismanagement was in the area of $100,000, according to the probable cause statement. The credit card was in Flanagan’s name, as was the town checking account.
In May 2025, there were charges made for an obituary, to Dish Network, Amazon, Costco, to Flanagan and to Evergreen Community College.
Daggett and Sullivan confirmed these purchases were not authorized by the town of Metaline, according to the probable cause statement. Those were not the only charges in question, just a small amount of what was allegedly fraudulently purchased.
Monday, June 30, Flanagan came in for an interview with the deputy. After being read her Miranda rights, according to the probable cause statement, she said she did use the city credit and debit card for personal use and that she knew it was wrong. She was then arrested.
According to a Sheriff’s Office news release about her arrest, the investigation is ongoing to determine the full breadth of the scope of the allegation as well as identify any additional victims.
Flanagan was a past Metaline Woman of the Year and was involved in a number of community activities, including serving as the head of the Pend Oreille Region Tourism Alliance, which puts on the Bigfoot Festival in June.
