Former Hickory Flat town clerk guilty of embezzlement

Stephanie Churchill, a former Town Clerk of Hickory Flat, pleaded guilty to embezzlement in Benton County Circuit Court announced State Auditor Shad White on Monday.

Churchill was indicted and arrested for embezzlement in April 2022 for not depositing funds collected from water and sewage bills from October 2018 through February 2021, resulting in a demand letter of $104,256.92 from Special Agents upon her arrest.

The State Auditor’s office recovered $50,000 from a surety bond company and returned it to Hickory Flat taxpayers. Churchill was ordered to pay $55,850.42 in restitution and other court fees.

“We will continue to work with prosecutors, who make decisions about when to charge someone with a crime, to achieve results for the taxpayers,” said State Auditor Shad White. “My office has investigated more than 100 people whom prosecutors have chosen to indict in my time in office, and we will continue to build a track record of being tough on perpetrators.”