Former Student Government Association President Chris Pace pleaded not guilty Sept. 9 to a felony charge of tampering with public records.

Pace, 27, is accused of taking records from the SGA office and discarding them into a campus Dumpster just before his term expired on June 30.

Current SGA President Andy Hixson defeated Eric Fegan, Pace’s vice president, in April’s controversial election.

SGA senators and university administrators were at ends when the Election Committee said it would not recognize votes for Hixson and declared Fegan the new president. This was after the Judicial Council ruled that Hixson was ineligible to run for office.

Dean of Students Kent Kelso overruled this decision, and said that Hixson was the winner.

After a month of debate, the Board of Regents upheld Kelso’s decision at its May meeting.

Bob Carran, Pace’s attorney, said while he can easily conceive that someone took the records from the office, he said there is no evidence to suggest Pace committed the crime.

Carran also said he did not see the significance of the “old” SGA minutes that were taken from the office.

Pace now faces a pre-trial hearing Sept. 24.