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A Lincoln judge has found probable cause to send the criminal case against the former director of History Nebraska on to district court over a defense argument that no crime had been committed.

The Nebraska Attorney General's Office has accused Trevor Jones, who resigned as CEO and executive director of the agency in July 2022 after six years in the role, of felony theft by deception for his alleged mishandling of more than $270,000 in funds in 2020.

But, unlike typical theft cases, no one is alleging Jones, who lives in Minnesota now, personally benefited. Instead, it involves a transfer of discretionary funds from the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation that ended up going into History Nebraska's Foundation account.

Deputy State Auditor Craig Kubicek said in early 2022 a concern had been raised by History Nebraska with the agency's hotline to report fraud, waste or abuse of state funds. 

History Nebraska, a state agency, had requested funds from the Historical Society Foundation to offset anticipated loss of revenue due to COVID-19. In return, the foundation cut a check to History Nebraska for $269,926.25 in June 2020 and a second check for $325.09 a month later.

It's where Jones deposited the checks that is at issue. 

Kubicek said the funds never made it into the State Treasury or an account for History Nebraska, which he says was required. Instead Jones deposited them into the History Nebraska Foundation bank account.

The History Nebraska Foundation is to rival the State Historical Society Foundation, which had served as the agency's primary fundraiser for decades.

Jones opened the History Nebraska Foundation's bank account in December 2019.

"So the crux of this whole thing, as I understand it to be, is because these checks were deposited into History Nebraska Foundation instead of History Nebraska's account that's the problem. Is that right?" Jones' attorney, John Ball, asked Kubicek at a preliminary hearing in October.

Kubicek said, "Yeah."

"Is that a crime?" Ball asked him. 

Kubicek said he wasn't there to say whether a crime was committed; he presents the facts and cited some statutory concerns. 

"In my view, if there's a request for a state agency that lost money from COVID, as the request states, then those funds should be deposited with the state of Nebraska," he said. 

Jones' attorney pressed back. 

"I'm just trying to understand, who is the victim here? Where is the loss?" he said. 

Ball argued donor money had gone from one foundation to another, not state money.

Kubicek said the state of Nebraska was the victim because the request for discretionary funds had been made by the state agency to replenish state funds.

"Is there an allegation that these monies were misappropriated in any way, shape or form? Were they taken or stolen or obtained?" Ball asked him.

Kubicek said that wasn't for him to decide, but he acknowledged that Jones only had gotten about $130 of the funds, in the form of reimbursements for expenses for the foundation.

More to the point, it came down to what the money wasn't used for, according to Assistant Attorney General Corey O'Brien. 

"Your audit found that the expenditures from the History Nebraska Foundation not a single penny was used for COVID shortfall, correct?" he asked Kubicek.

"Yes," Kubicek answered. 

The money instead went to support fundraising-type activity, he said. 

On Nov. 17, Lancaster County Judge Timothy Phillips announced his decision finding sufficient evidence to show a crime had been committed and that Jones had committed it. 

Ball said he will file a challenge to the charge in district court.