The state Court of Appeals has ordered a new trial for a former auctioneer convicted of passing bad checks of more than $230,000, including one for $125,000 in 2008 to the Warren County Board of Supervisors.

Jim Durham was sentenced in April 2010 in Forrest County Circuit Court to nine years on four felony counts of writing bad checks. The check he wrote the Warren board was for a surplus motor grader. It bounced, leading officials to investigate.

Prosecutors say Durham, former vice president of Durham Auctions, used an escrow account to hold money that should have gone straight to the seller after an auction. They said Durham used the money to pay off loans and investors.

The auction company and Durham both filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2008, Durham testified during his 2010 trial.

In ordering a new trial, the appeals court cited a faulty jury instruction.