Two Arkansas women charged in missing funds case

CROSS COUNTY, Ark. — Two women from Cross County were charged with multiple felonies following an 11-month-long criminal investigation led by Arkansas State Police.

Both women turned themselves in and surrendered to the Cross County Sheriff’s Department on Friday, August 19.

35-year-old Ana Stewart, a former district court clerk and city police officer, was charged with tampering with public records, second-degree forgery, conspiracy to commit tampering with a public record, and theft of property.

42-year-old Amanda Cullen, a district court clerk, was charged with tampering with a public record and theft of property.

The two women were accused of misappropriating funds from both the Cross County Detention Center and Wynne District Court.

A report from an Arkansas Legislative Audit Committee covering 2019-2021 indicated no record of the $35,728 from court fines collected at the Cross County Sheriff’s Office were accounted for in the appropriate bank deposits.

A separate audit that covered January 1, 2021, through July 2021 of the court clerk’s records noted $25,968 missing and $61,696 in fines that could not be traced to the appropriate bank deposits.