The trial of the former director of Southwest Alabama Police Academy charged with violating state ethics laws and stealing from the state, was postponed last week yet again.

In October 2005, Van Davis, director of the school from 1976 to 2003, and the academy’s bookkeeper, Johnnie Vines, were charged with two counts of violating ethics laws, two counts of theft by deception and two counts of failing to offer competitive bids to other companies for the sale of academy apparel.

The charges center on the Bay Minette academy, known by its acronym SWAPA, spending thousands of dollars with Vines’ company, Action Sports, to purchase hats, shirts and other items for staff and trainees at the academy on U.S. 31.

Trial of former SWAPA director postponed