Juab County employee accused of misusing public money

NEPHI — A Juab County employee is accused of using her county-issued credit card for personal expenses.

Kristin Rose Miller, 37, of Nephi, was charged Friday in 4th District Court with misusing public money, a third-degree felony.

Miller was hired by the county in January.

"In her capacity as Juab County administrator, she was issued a credit card for the purpose of making county-related purchases," according to charging documents. "Each purchase was to be recorded and explained – on a shared spreadsheet – with the corresponding receipt uploaded."

During a review of county-issued credit card statements for February, administrators "observed charges made by (Miller) totaling $1,597.46 that were indicated on a spreadsheet to be accidental personal purchases by the defendant. (Miller) stated she would write a check to Juab County to reimburse the cost of the personal purchases," the charges state.

Prosecutors note in their charges, however, "at no point did the defendant provide a check to reimburse the county."

On March 31, Miller signed a paper acknowledging she understood the credit card policy, according to prosecutors, "which reiterated that the card is not to be used for personal purposes unrelated to Juab County and the cardholder is responsible for providing appropriate documentation and receipts for purchases."

In April, however, charges were found on Miller's statement for March in which "there were neither receipts nor written explanations provided about the purchases," according to the charges.

She was asked to meet with county personnel to address the purchases but failed to show up to the meeting, the charges state. She was then "asked several times to provide receipts and explanations for the purchases in March. At times (she) indicated she was working on it. At other times she was non-responsive. As of the last week of April, the defendant had only provided explanations and receipts for two out of the approximately 70 purchases in March," according to charging documents.

In May, Miller admitted that most of the approximately $1,400 in charges she made in March were for personal purchases, the charges state.

"The defendant indicated the charges from March were accidental, due to her county-issued card being connected to her Apple Wallet. Explanations and receipts have not been provided for any of the April purchases. Those purchases totaled $1,911.24," the charges state.

Additional expenses were detected "on the fire district credit card for purchases that appeared personal in nature," according to the charges.

Related topics