ST. GEORGE — Outgoing Washington County Commissioner Jay Ence was arrested on three misdemeanor charges on New Year's Day.

Ence said the St. George officer initially stopped his vehicle after he pulled out on St. George Boulevard and waited near the median for another vehicle to pass.

"I didn't think I'd done anything wrong and said I wouldn't sign the ticket," Ence said during a telephone interview on Tuesday. "I thought if I signed the ticket it would be admitting I was guilty, and I didn't think I was wrong."

The officer, Ence said, thought otherwise and said Ence would go to jail if he didn't sign the ticket.

"I said 'Let's go, then,' and found out he was serious," Ence said.

Ence was booked on one class B misdemeanor charge of no proof of insurance, which Ence said he didn't realize was in the glove compartment of his vehicle, and two class C misdemeanor counts of improper parking/obstruction and failure to yield. Ence posted $564 bond and was released.

"Not signing the ticket was my mistake," said Ence. "I'd never been pulled over before, never, but I'm a big supporter of law enforcement, 100 percent."

Ence finished serving four years as a county commissioner on Dec. 31.