After a nearly two-year investigation by Arkansas State Police, Troop-A in Little Rock, Alexander Council Member Lou (Juanita) Wilson was charged with forgery in the second degree. The charge, a felony, is related to Wilson obtaining a city credit card for the use of then Police Chief Robert Burnett.
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| Lou (Juanita) Wilson |
Council members first learned about the credit card issue at the August, 2023 council meeting. The existence of two unauthorized city credit cards was reported by Administrative Assistant Jennifer Hill. The second card was held by then Treasurer JoAn Churchill. This was reported in the 2023 State Audit released in 2024.
Wilson returned the card being used by Burnett. Churchill destroyed her card.
“When I found out I couldn't keep track of where it was going and who was using it," Wilson said in 2023. "I have not spent one dime on it for the city. I gave it to someone to use in the city because they didn't have access to the other credit card that was supposed to be already here."
At the September, 2023 council meeting, council members were read a letter from the bank admitting they didn’t follow their own policy of requiring a resolution approving who can receive one of the three cards allowed for city use. A 2022 resolution, establishing who can sign checks for the city, was mistakenly identified as the method Churchill and Wilson used to obtain the credit cards. (Read article here.)
Trying to untangle the confusion Mayor Crystal Herrmann said, at the September, 2023 meeting, "That's a different situation. That was for them to actually be (check) signers."
Wilson’s hearing is scheduled for August.