By MATTHEW LANE
KNOXVILLE - The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation arrested the former office manager for the Sneedville Utility District for theft on Friday after being indicted by a Hancock County grand jury earlier in the week.
Connie Renee Mitchell, 42, of Sneedville was charged with one count of theft over $1,000.
The indictment comes as a result of an audit of the SUD by the Comptroller's Office Division of Municipal Audit in August 2011. The District Attorney General's Office requested the TBI investigation in March 2012 after learning the results of the audit.
According to a TBI press release, the audit found cash funds held at the office were missing and a number of “I.O.U’s” and personal checks were written by Mitchell. Mitchell, who has since been fired from the SUD, admitted to investigators that she took the money to pay personal bills.
Mitchell was booked into the Hancock County Jail on a $20,000 bond.