The Louisiana Legislative Auditor released the Lafayette City Marshal's annual audit on Monday, providing more details about a case announced in January.
In January, the Marshal's Office announced that an employee, Jacqueline Theresa Walsh, had been arrested and fired. Jail records showed she had been booked with theft and identity theft. When we asked about the identity theft charge we were told it stemmed from her use of a marshal's office credit card.
The audit says a little bit more. You can read it yourself by scrolling down.
Here's the LLA's summary:
The independent auditor’s report had three findings – one of which was repeated from the previous year. Two of the findings focused on the misappropriation of funds. During the year, officials discovered approximately $73,250 missing from the Lafayette City Marshal’s Reserve account – a nonprofit entity that isn’t under the marshal’s control. An employee is believed to have deposited certain vendor checks into the Reserve account and then taken funds out via unauthorized electronic transfers and the unauthorized use of a debit card. The employee was fired and subsequently charged with theft and identity theft. The case was awaiting a trial date as of the date of the report. The auditor also found the Marshal’s Office lacked adequate segregation of duties over its accounting functions.
One repeat finding is a very common one for smaller governmental entities: inadequate segregation of accounting duties. Governmental accounting standards require a level of segregation that often isn't financially feasible for smaller entities to accomplish, and indeed management's response to this finding was that "cost-benefit of additional personnel, it may not be feasible to achieve complete segregation of duties."
The other findings had to do with the thefts alleged occurred between September and December 2025. The former employee allegedly stole $48,250 between September 9 and October 31, and then $25,000 between November 1 and December 30, the auditors found. She was an office administrator in the accounting department, the audit states.
The money was stolen by "depositing repossession fee receipts (checks from vendors) received in the mail into the Lafayette City Marshal’s Reserve account, a non-profit entity not under the control of the Marshal. Funds deposited in the Reserve account were subsequently taken through unauthorized electronic transfers, and unauthorized use of a debit card. The person believed to have committed the act of fraud/misappropriation was Jackie Welsh, former Office Administrator in the Accounting Department of the Marshal City-Court of Lafayette, Louisiana," the audit states.
The theft was discovered in January, and the employee was fired and Lafayette Police conducted an investigation. The Legislative Auditor and the District Attorney were notified as is required by law. The audit states that the LPD sent their report to the DA in April. Additionally, the marshal's office filed a fraud claim with the involved bank.
The audit states that charges have been filed and the case is awaiting a trial date. But we checked in Lafayette Parish clerk records, and did not find Walsh's name - meaning she has not been formally charged. We reached out to the District Attorney's Office to find out what the status of the case is, and we'll update this story as soon as we hear back.
The auditors suggested that the marshal's office "should have a control policy according to which the person given the responsibility of accounting functions does not have access to incoming mail" because the "controls in place did not prevent a material misappropriation of funds in a timely manner."
Here's the plan the marshal's office outlined: (1) enhanced segregation of duties to ensure no one person controls an entire transaction; (2) multiple approvals, requiring at least 2 approvals for expenditures; (3) access controls, limiting system and financial access; (4) regular audits and reviews of financial activity.
We also reached out to the Marshal's Office to see if they have any additional comment. We'll update the story if they do.
Here's the full audit:
