The former village clerk of Rock Springs admitted Monday she embezzled $8,500 from the village over six months, a fact local officials have tried to keep quiet as the flood-ravaged village applies for millions in federal aid.

Former village Clerk Shea Howard, who resigned in February, told the Wisconsin State Journal on Monday she wrote checks to herself starting in August, shortly after the village was flooded, until January, in amounts that varied from $500 to $750. She said she has been going through a divorce, has five children and had intended all along to pay the money back.

Howard acknowledged the $8,500 was drawn from a village account that combined local funds with federal and state money intended for flood recovery.

"I made a mistake," Howard said. "I paid for my mistake."

Outgoing village President Harlan Behnke said the theft was ultimately discovered, and Howard asked the village board to allow her to repay the stolen funds, resign and avoid prosecution.

Behnke said the Village Board discussed Howard’s request in a closed-door meeting but never actually voted on the arrangement because no one would make a motion. Behnke said the board did finally vote but only to accept her resignation. He said the village cashed Howard’s check for $8,500 on March 2.

Behnke and DeAnna Ploof, a village employee who has been serving as the acting clerk, both claim to have caught the discrepancies in the village checkbook.

But after the State Journal requested to see village records in connection with the alleged theft, Behnke on Saturday changed the locks on the village offices. The move barred Ploof from accessing the records.

Behnke has called an emergency Village Board meeting, "but I will not post an exact date until after (today’s) election."

Behnke acknowledged on Friday that he had signed the checks to Howard. Behnke didn’t elaborate, but Howard said Behnke had signed blank checks and left them with her in case she needed them in his absence.

At times, Howard wrote the checks to herself as "expense reimbursement," at other times for "general checking."

Duane Neises, one of six trustees on the board, said he objected to keeping the theft quiet.

"I didn’t think that was a right way to go. It was taxpayers’ money," Neises said last week. "I talked to Harlan, and he said, ‘I can’t prosecute a woman that has five kids.’ I wanted a roll call vote. We didn’t have no vote at all. It was just hushed up."

Although Behnke said he didn’t want to see Howard prosecuted because she has five children, Howard said there was another reason. "With everything that’s gone on with the village, it was obvious it doesn’t need any negative publicity," Howard said. "There’s been plenty in the past."

The village treasury has received at least $166,367 in emergency money from the Federal Emergency Management Administration, but neither state officials nor the Sauk County district attorney have been notified of the alleged embezzlement, both offices confirmed Monday.

Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett said her office doesn’t have the staff to probe this kind of incident.

"We do not have investigators and do not independently investigate matters," Barrett said. "We rely on law enforcement to do appropriate investigations and refer matters to our office for review for charging decisions. It is at that point in time when a decision to prosecute would be made by this office."

The village is in the process of applying for more than $2 million in federal and state aid to demolish 20 flood-damaged homes and a Downtown artificial insemination business.

The applications include a request for a loan from the state Commerce Department to cover the village’s mandatory 12.5 percent match, required to obtain the federal funds.

Today’s election for village president is complicated as well. Behnke had decided not run for re-election for health reasons. He will not be village president after May 1.

And Heather Scully, who had agreed to run for the office last winter decided recently she couldn’t for personal reasons. The victor will be a write-in candidate.