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The former owner of an Oxford insurance company is out on bond after his July 2 arrest on 14 counts of theft.

According to court records, Mitchell W. Hurt, was indicted June 27 by a grand jury on 13 counts of first-degree theft of property and one count of second-degree theft of property.

He was arrested about a week after the indictment and released on $70,000 bond, said the records.

Hurt is the former president of Howell-Hurt Insurance Company on Hamric Drive in Oxford.

Anniston Mayor Chip Howell, Hurt's former business partner, confirmed an investigation earlier this year by the state Insurance Department.

Howell said in previous interviews with The Star that investigators would not tell him what they were looking into.

The investigators contacted him to make sure he no longer had anything to do with the business, Howell said.

At that time he no longer had any interest in the company, said Howell.

According to a spokesman from the Alabama Department of Insurance, a consumer complaint specialist from the department was asked to testify before the grand jury June 27.

"The Alabama Department of Insurance is aware of the grand jury's and district attorney's proceedings and have rendered assistance as requested," Steve Holmes, Public Information Specialist for the Alabama Department of Insurance, said Wednesday.

Holmes said Hurt's agency license was not renewed on December 31, 2007. His individual license was voluntarily surrendered on April 29, Holmes said.