A Weaver City official was arrested Wednesday after audits revealed financial records she was responsible for managing were falsified, a release from Weaver Police stated.

Jacqueline H. Brooks, 41, of Weaver was charged with first-degree theft of property and booked into the Calhoun County Jail. She was later released after posting $20,000 bond, the release also stated.

Brooks, who was working as the assistant city clerk at the time of her arrest, is accused of falsifying documents detailing the Weaver Water Department’s revenues, according to Mayor Garry Bearden. Bearden said suspicions of mismanagement led to an audit, which revealed that up to $9,000 was lost from the revenue funds over an eight-month period.

“It was the result of things that were not matching up,” Bearden said of the audit. “When you have the irregularities and they begin to happen with some constancy, you begin to become alarmed.”

The city continues to audit revenue reports from the Water Department and has also started auditing its financial records as a result of the findings. The discrepancy in the reports has also led the city to check its computer security system, Bearden said.

“We’re looking at all records and all avenues to ensure there is no margin for error,” he said.

The mayor said the ongoing audits might reveal more financial discrepancies, but he doesn’t expect more arrests to come from the case.

Brooks served as the Weaver Water Department’s clerk for most of the nine years she has been employed with the city. Within the past six months she was named the assistant city clerk. She was terminated Wednesday, Bearden said.

He said he sent a notification of Brooks’ termination to the Civil Service Board after her arrest.

“She has done a very good job. She’s been very thorough. She has been very proficient,” Bearden said. “Until this time, there has not been evidence of anything other than being an exemplary employee. I think all of us that were close to it, were all surprised to say the least.”

Brooks will face a judge on Sept. 16 for a preliminary hearing, according to a release issued by the Weaver City Police Department.

In a case authorities say is unrelated, another former Weaver Water Department employee was arrested this week, accused of stealing from the department.

William D. Hill, 20, of Anniston was charged Monday with third-degree burglary and first-degree theft of property. Hill was taken to the Calhoun County Jail where his bond was set at $36,000.

Police believe Hill and another suspect, who has not been arrested, took brass fittings and clamps valued at about $3,000 from a water department building. The items were reported stolen on July 13, and were recovered from a lo-cal scrap yard on Monday.

Hill worked for the water department as a temporary employee in 2008. Bearden remembered him as a good employee.

“We haven’t seen or heard from him since them,” he said. “We thought it was a good working relationship, and we never thought he’d come back and steal from us.”

Contact staff writer Laura Johnson at 256-235-3544.