Polk County official pleads guilty to Walmart shoplifting, gets probation

Polk County's elected public administrator has served in the role since 2003. On Tuesday, she pleaded guilty to a municipal stealing charge — one of several thefts from a Bolivar Walmart police accused her of committing — and was sentenced to one year of probation.

Public Administrator Barbara Davolt was originally cited for three separate municipal violations for shoplifting from the Bolivar store in July and August last year. According to previous News-Leader reporting, Bolivar police responded to a call from the store regarding a woman accused of "skip-scanning" $25.74 worth of household items on Aug. 25, 2023. Court documents said that when investigators looked at archived video from the self-checkout area, they determined Davolt had committed the same offense twice before.

Skip-scanning is a form of shoplifting where someone deliberately doesn't scan an item at the self-checkout counter before putting it in the bag.

Davolt made a post on Facebook in February, which has since been removed from public view, asserting her innocence . Tuesday morning, she pleaded guilty to one charge in Polk County Circuit Court. Because of Davolt's strong ties to local government in Polk County, Cedar County-based Associate Circuit Court Judge Jacob Dawson presided over the case and Matt Rice, director of safety and security at Bolivar's Southwest Baptist University, was the special prosecutor.

The remaining two charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement. In addition to her one-year probation, Davolt was also ordered to pay $95.60 in restitution to Walmart as well as $38.50 in court costs, according to court documents. Online court records show the judge denied a request Davolt made through her attorney to raise the case's security level, which would have made the records inaccessible to the public.

More: State finds probable cause of election violations in Humansville, investigations ongoing

Davolt has remained as the county's Public Administrator since the charges were filed in September. She ran for reelection in the August primary but was defeated by fellow Republican Scott Pursselley, a county deputy coroner and former City Utilities employee, by a margin of more than 900 votes. The public administrator serves as the court-appointed representative in probate cases and as a guardian or conservator for people unable to care for themselves.

Marta Mieze covers local government at the News-Leader. Have feedback, tips or story ideas? Contact her at mmieze@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Polk County official pleads guilty to Walmart shoplifting, gets probation