CAIRO — The criminal case concerning a former Grady County clerk accused of stealing taxpayer money likely won’t be heard until early next year, according to the South Georgia District Attorney.

Carrie Croy, Grady County clerk from 2002 until her resignation in late 2018, faces charges of theft by taking and criminal attempt to commit a felony whenever she appears before a Superior Court judge.

“It’s just a matter of getting the green light to go ahead and do so,” said South Georgia District Attorney Joe Mulholland.

Croy’s case had been scheduled to be heard in the March term of the Grady County Superior Court, which was postponed after a statewide Judicial Emergency was issued that month due to the coronavirus pandemic. That emergency order since has been extended seven times, entirely pushing the case off the 2020 judicial calendar.

Mulholland said Croy isn’t likely to appear in court until at least next year.

“That would be one of our priority cases (when trials resume), given how long it’s been,” he said.

Croy was indicted more than a year ago in September 2019.

Trials have been at a standstill since March, though grand jury activities did resume this month, a development Mulholland said is “a step in the right direction.”

The district attorney said he hopes trials can fully resume early next year, but “as long as there’s a judicial emergency, we only have so many people and a limited capacity that we can put into a forum where they can pick a jury.”

“There’s not a whole lot that we can control on this thing,” he said.

Croy’s legal counsel had submitted a plea of not guilty prior to the emergency order being issued.

Prosecutors say Croy took more than $1,500 of county money between April 2015 and April 2018 by manipulating her personal paychecks. Her indictment says she further attempted to manipulate the federal and state withholding amounts on her paychecks between January and October 2018.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation stated in a press released that Croy illegally took approximately $5,800 over the course of three years.

Suspicious discrepancies surrounding Croy’s paychecks were first noticed by county auditor Perry Henry in October 2018, who then informed the county commissioners.

Croy resigned her position later that month and surrendered to law enforcement in early 2019.

Grady County commissioners have requested that prosecutors seek restitution for the money Croy is alleged to have stolen and for costs associated with her investigation.