Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin: Two Cotton Plant city employees facing theft charges

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said two Cotton Plant city employees are in the Woodruff County Jail after an investigation by his office.

Griffin said members of his office’s Public Integrity Unit worked with officers of the Augusta Police Department and Woodruff County Sheriff’s deputies to investigate the two employees. As a result of the investigation, 47-year-old Katrina Criswell and 29-year-old Lakeyia Alexander are facing charges of theft of property, a class D felony, and are currently held in the jail, he said.

A release from Griffin’s office said Criswell and Alexander worked for the city’s mayor’s office. In February 2023, while the mayor was out on medical leave, the pair falsified time sheets to show them working more than their allotted 20 hours per week, investigators said.

Officials said that because of the added hours, more than $5,000 in unauthorized wages was paid.

“Those who work in local government hold a special public trust, as they are closest to the people,” Griffin said in a statement. “Both of the accused falsified their time sheets to claim more hours than they were authorized to work, thus increasing their salary without the knowledge and approval of the Mayor of Cotton Plant or the City Council.”

Griffin added that stealing from a city that employs you is an affront to the hardworking taxpayers.