The Mineral Springs City Recorder-Treasurer has been charged with using a city credit card to finance gambling online, and using ‘whiteout’ to obscure line items in city financial records.
Denise Juniel, 58, Mineral Springs, was charged by Prosecuting Attorney Jana Bradford on Monday, Nov. 17, with theft of property, a class B felony, and six counts of tampering with public records, a class D felony.
Juniel was a secretary with the MS Police Department 2018-2021 before being appointed town secretary-treasurer by then-Mayor Vera Marks. She paid bills and payroll for the city, according to current Mayor Bobby Tullis. She has been terminated.
Her first courtroom appearance was Wednesday, Nov. 19, when she was arraigned before Judge Tom Cooper, and had a March 10 trial date set. She pleaded not guilty to the charge. She will be represented by Tisha Martin of the district’s Public Defender office. Pretrial motions will be heard March 4.
The investigation includes legislative audit reports of 2023, 2024 and to-date in 2025. The investigation was by Ninth West Judicial District investigator David Shelton, and two auditors from the Arkansas Legislative Audit agency.
According to the criminal charge report, as much as $114,000 may have been taken by Juniel for her online gambling.
The investigation is ongoing.
