The secretary for Tuscumbia was arrested on Tuesday and charged with stealing money from the general revenue fund for the village.
Miller County Sheriff Bill Abbott said Cheryl E. Sears, 60, has been charged with four counts of felony stealing.
According to the probable cause statement, Detective Jason Evans with the Miller County Sheriff's Office said Tuscumbia Mayor Davie Horton reported a theft of monies from the village's general fund on Jan. 22. Horton said he had reviewed canceled checks made out to the secretary of the village, Cheryl E. Sears, in the amount of $600, and Sears was in charge of maintaining the financial records of the village, including the checking account and paying her own salary.
Horton also said in the report Sears salary was set at $300 a month - $3,600 a year - and set at that amount for several years. He said Sears was never authorized to pay herself more than her set salary, according to Evans' statement.
Along with the report, Horton provided detectives with copies of canceled checks from Central Bank of Tuscumbia, dating from January 2006 through December 2013. Upon review of the canceled checks, Evans reported in his statement that Sears allegedly paid herself an additional $21,900 during this time frame, in which she was not authorized to pay.
Evans said during Sears' interview, she admitted to paying herself an additional $300 a month on numerous occasions and, at times writing a check for $600. According to the probable cause statement, Sears admitted she had been paying herself the extra money from the Village of Tuscumbia for about four to five years. Sears told Evans she first started paying herself the extra $300 because she needed money to pay bills.
Sears also admitted to Evans she had never been given permission from any of the board members to pay herself the extra money and that she never told any of the board members about the extra money she was paying herself. Sears said when the board would meet and she reviewed the expenses paid out, she would report to the board members she paid herself $300 a month, according to Evans' statement.
Evans said Sears also sat down with two other detectives and identified each check she had paid herself the extra $300, doing this by initialing the checks. Sears also provided a written statement stating she started making overpayments to herself when her husband was ill and lost his job, according to Evans' statement. He said Sears acknowledged she knew what she was doing was wrong, and that for several years she did not have to report to anyone and took advantage of the situation.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Sears was being held on a cash bond of $22,000 or $100,000 surety bond.