Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 29, 1990                   TAG: 9006290721
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Ron Brown
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

STATE POLICE PROBE CLEARS BATH SHERIFF

"It is my finding that Sheriff Bryan was guilty of no willful criminal conduct and I do not plan to prosecute," said Raymond Robertson, Staunton's commonwealth's attorney.

Robertson acknowledged his finding in a telephone interview Thursday afternoon.

Dispatchers said Bryan was out of town on vacation and could not be reached for comment.

Robertson was asked to oversee the investigation after Bath County Commonwealth's Attorney R. Creigh Deeds withdrew last month.

Deeds had said his continued involvement with the Bryan investigation could damage his working relationship with the sheriff's department in other criminal cases.

Bryan was accused of charging items to the county that he bought for personal use. State police also were investigating allegations of a conflict of interest involving Bryan and his wife and son, both of whom have worked at the sheriff's department.

Bryan's son, James Bryan III, is employed at the Bath County Jail. His wife, Frances, was once employed as a corrections officer but no longer works for the department.

State police have declined to say where the allegations originated.

Bryan was elected sheriff in 1979 after serving 11 years with the department as a deputy. He defeated incumbent Sheriff Frank M. Pruitt, who narrowly defeated him in an election four years earlier.