Boone County Assessor arrested for abuse of office

The Boone County Assessor has been arrested for abuse of office. Fifty-one-year-old Brandi Dawn Diffey of Harrison was booked into the Marion County Detention Center Thursday morning and released 35 minutes later after being released on her own recognizance.According to the probable cause affidavit from the Arkansas State Police (ASP), the investigation started last August when Prosecutor David Ethredge asked the ASP to investigate funds allegedly stolen from Boone County government accounts. The initial subject of this investigation was county employee Daniel Bolen. However, as the investigation drew along, information came to the Prosecutor’s attention that Boone County Assessor Brandi Diffey was misusing the Boone County purchase card.

An Arkansas Legislative Audit revealed that since December 10, 2022, through January 9, 2026, Diffey, while serving as the Boone County Assessor, made multiple personal charges on her government issued county credit card. Auditors uncovered approximately $2,042 of improper charges. Auditors found Diffey did pay or reimburse approximately $1906.

Auditors identified the majority of the personal charges on the Assessor’s government purchase card originated from expenditures at Walmart.

WITNESS INTERVIEWS

Witness interviews were conducted as part of the investigation, including two employees from the Boone County Clerk’s Office. Both employees stated that, in their official capacity as Clerks, they had observed personal charges made by Diffey on a Boone County government credit card.

Additionally, both employees reported in October 2024, Diffey informed them her adult son had accidentally made a purchase using the county credit card, and she needed to reimburse the county for the expense. Both employees recalled the purchase involved fuel.

The Clerks further described a consistent pattern in which Diffey failed to properly safeguard the county credit card, resulting in personal charges being made on the account. They also expressed concern regarding Diffey’s apparent inability to distinguish between personal expenses and legitimate government expenditures.

Also, the clerks stated Diffey would not submit her county credit card statements in a timely manner to their office. This results in late fees and interest charges on the card.

Surveillance footage was obtained from Walmart showing Diffey’s son and daughter-in-law making purchases using the county’s credit card. Both told the ASP investigator they were using Diffey’s account and the card was set as the default payment method and they did not know they were paying with the county issued card.

DIFFEY’S ADMISSION

Diffey says she added the county’s credit card to her Walmart account approximately two years ago for the purpose of purchasing water for county employees and setting up automatic shipments to the Assessor’s Office.

She says all of the purchases at Walmart were made in error because the card had been set as the default payment. She says her son and daughter-in-law did not know the county’s credit card was attached to her Walmart account.

Diffey says she has reimbursed the county for all of the purchases and says this was all a big mistake.

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