State Police Investigating Suspected Employee Theft in Gurdon Water Department
By: Marci Manley, KARK 4 News
Updated: September 20, 2012
Arkansas State Police are investigating the Gurdon Water Department, investigating missing funds from city coffers.
The blow of a train whistle, one of the few sounds that disrupt the somewhat sleepy town of Gurdon in Clark County.
But another disturbance is underfoot, only revealed during a routine review of the city's books. Usually, they go smoothly when everything's on the up and up.
"We were informed of it in our annual audit. We started an internal investigation on our own and determined there was a shortage of funds," said Mayor Clayton Franklin.
Mayor Franklin, declining to tell KARK just how much money is missing from the Water Department's funds.
"Is it a significant amount of money?" we asked.
"Well, that depends. What would you define as a significant amount?" he asked
"Is it over $10,000?" we replied.
"It is over $10,000 and less than $15,000," he said.
That's coming out of a department, according to Franklin, with a $600,000 budget. He did confirm a city employee would be the only one with access to the account.
"You have a small, close-knit group of people in the city," Franklin said. "To think you might have a problem with one of your own, yeah it hurts a little bit. "
A Water Department staff member was terminated after the audit. Franklin said it was an effort to get the city back on track . Arkansas State Police have been conducting interviews throughout the week
The suspect's identity in this case hasn't been released, but Franklin said he expects charges could be filed within a week.
The blow of a train whistle, one of the few sounds that disrupt the somewhat sleepy town of Gurdon in Clark County.
But another disturbance is underfoot, only revealed during a routine review of the city's books. Usually, they go smoothly when everything's on the up and up.
"We were informed of it in our annual audit. We started an internal investigation on our own and determined there was a shortage of funds," said Mayor Clayton Franklin.
Mayor Franklin, declining to tell KARK just how much money is missing from the Water Department's funds.
"Is it a significant amount of money?" we asked.
"Well, that depends. What would you define as a significant amount?" he asked
"Is it over $10,000?" we replied.
"It is over $10,000 and less than $15,000," he said.
That's coming out of a department, according to Franklin, with a $600,000 budget. He did confirm a city employee would be the only one with access to the account.
"You have a small, close-knit group of people in the city," Franklin said. "To think you might have a problem with one of your own, yeah it hurts a little bit. "
A Water Department staff member was terminated after the audit. Franklin said it was an effort to get the city back on track . Arkansas State Police have been conducting interviews throughout the week
The suspect's identity in this case hasn't been released, but Franklin said he expects charges could be filed within a week.
