A special prosecutor has been appointed to handle what could become a criminal case against former Roanoke City Councilman Alfred Dowe.

Dowe resigned in February after it was disclosed that he had billed both city and state taxpayers for the same travel expenses. Additional questions have since surfaced about meetings for which there is no record -- except for the restaurant, hotel and rental car bills that Dowe incurred, reportedly for attending them.

Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell said Tuesday that at his request, a circuit court judge has appointed Christopher Russell, Buena Vista's commonwealth's attorney, to handle the matter.

Although the case has now officially moved from city hall to the courthouse across the street, the appointment of a special prosecutor does not mean charges against Dowe are a given.

"There's certainly a real suspicion of criminal activity at this point, but it's just a little too early to say," Russell said.

Russell said he hopes to decide whether to seek charges within the next 30 to 45 days. He plans to review a recently released report by Municipal Auditor Drew Harmon, who spent more than three months combing through Dowe's expenses, before deciding if additional investigation by police is necessary.

Since his resignation, Dowe has reimbursed the city nearly $6,000 of the $7,138.24 of expenses the audit found were improper. Many of the charges were billed to a city-issued credit card.

"From the start, Alfred has been cooperative throughout the process and looks forward to the opportunity to continue to cooperate," lawyer John Lichtenstein, who represents Dowe along with John Fishwick, said Tuesday.

Instead of responding in detail to questions about each meal or trip, Dowe has been reimbursing the city as items are brought to his attention. Additional restitution is possible, Lichtenstein said. But it's too soon to say if that will be enough to avoid prosecution.

"I can say it will certainly have some bearing. Whether it's a tiny bearing or a huge bearing, I can't say," Russell said of the payments Dowe has made so far.

An order appointing the special prosecutor states that Caldwell's personal association with Dowe would make it improper for him to handle "either an investigation or possible prosecution." Caldwell said that Dowe interned in his office on two occasions, as a high school student and again during college.

According to the order, Caldwell was asked by the municipal auditor to investigate the case. Harmon declined to say Tuesday whether he thinks his report uncovered grounds for criminal charges. But, he said, "I would say there's definitely a foundation there to warrant an investigation."

Dowe's political downfall began in February, when The Roanoke Times reported that he had spent nearly $15,000 on meals and travel for city-related business in 2007 -- almost as much as the rest of the city council combined.

After first defending the sum as the cost of becoming a more engaged leader, Dowe resigned when the double-billing came to light. According to documents obtained through the state's open-records law, Dowe submitted claims to the state for reimbursement for his mileage and hotel stays for trips to Richmond to attend meetings of the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, a state agency for which he was a board member.

Dowe had already charged a rental car and the same hotel bill to his city-issued credit card, the vouchers showed.

According to Harmon's audit, Dowe charged $3,042.78 to the city for DCJS-related expenses, for which he later received $3,040.24 in reimbursement from the state.

The audit also raised questions about a number of other expenses by Dowe. On one occasion, Dowe billed the city nearly $500 for an overnight trip to Richmond to attend a DCJS meeting that was never held, according to the audit.

The audit also found no evidence of a second meeting Dowe billed the city for attending, an executive team conference of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials in Norfolk. And although Dowe listed a Felicia Anderson as the caucus official who was involved with the meeting, caucus officials have said they have no one by that name on their staff.

Earlier this year, when the possibility of criminal charges against Dowe was first raised, then-Mayor Nelson Harris said that in his view, "the only fair thing to do would be to hold a member of the council who commits a violation of policy or law to the same standard that we would hold a municipal employee."

Mayor David Bowers, who has since taken office, declined to comment Tuesday on Dowe's case in particular.

"In my law practice, every day I have to deal with people who have to face the consequences of their mistakes," Bowers said. "It's not always pleasant. Yet sometimes there are nice people who have to pay the price and get on with their lives."