Union’s ex-treasurer pleads guilty to theft, forgery

PULLMAN – The former treasurer of the Whitcom 911 employees union pleaded guilty to theft and forgery charges Friday in Whitman County Superior Court.

Emily Kirk, of Pullman, was in court for a readiness hearing for her trial, set to begin later this month, when she entered the plea.

Before the plea, she had also been charged with money laundering for her role in the disappearance of nearly $14,000 from employee guild accounts.

Prosecutors from the state attorney general’s office, which has been handling the case to avoid potential conflicts of interest for the county prosecutor’s office, accused Kirk, 30, of using her position as treasurer to write checks to herself out of guild accounts and forge the guild president’s signature on them before depositing them into her own accounts.

Whitcom is the 911 dispatch call center for Whitman and Asotin counties and the city of Moscow.