Kenneth Hatch III of Whitefield appeared before Justice Robert Mullen at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta June 27, after a dispositional conference confirmed Hatch and his attorney, Richard Elliott, intended to go to trial rather then negotiate a plea deal. The trial will occur sometime in November, with jury selection Nov. 7 or 8. Mullen said he would create two separate jury pools.

The prosecution and defense agreed the trial would likely take a week.

Hatch is accused of sexual contact with minors, furnishing drugs to minors and removing marijuana from evidence lockers belonging to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. He is on unpaid leave from his deputy job with the Sheriff’s Office until the trial is complete.

On a motion by Elliott, Mullen ordered that the grand jury testimony prior to Hatch’s indictment be transcribed by the court reporter, but said he was not yet ordering that the material be furnished to the prosecution or the defense.

There will be a status conference sometime before jury selection.