A Valmeyer woman charged last year for the theft of funds at a local school district was charged last week for the same type of crime at another school district out of the area.

Julie Nappier, 52, was charged last Wednesday in St. Clair County Circuit Court with felony theft ($10,000 to $100,000) and official misconduct. 

The theft charge is a Class 1 felony. The misconduct charge is a Class 3 felony. 

Per court information provided by the O’Fallon Police Department, between Aug. 29, 2022 and June 30, 2023, Nappier “exerted unauthorized control” of U.S. currency at Central School District 104 in O’Fallon by “performing acts in excess of her lawful authority” as a school district bookkeeper. 

These charges come less than a year after Nappier was charged with felony theft over $100,000, official misconduct and deception for allegedly stealing $155,374.44 from Columbia School District 4 in her role as a bookkeeper between June 2016 and July 2022.

The official misconduct charge in Monroe County alleges Nappier obtained personal advantage by giving herself an “excess of salary.” The deception charge alleges she unlawfully added funds to her IMRF pension in June 2022.

Nappier was employed with the Columbia School District from Aug. 24, 1998 to Aug. 5, 2022 – meaning the alleged theft in O’Fallon began shortly after she began employment at her new school district. 

The theft charge in Monroe County is a Class X felony due to the large amount of funds allegedly stolen and it being stolen from a school district. If convicted on that charge, Nappier faces a prison sentence of 6-30 years.

The official misconduct charge is a Class 3 felony. The deception charge is a Class 4 felony. Those two charges carry additional prison sentences of 2-5 and 1-3 years, respectively, upon a conviction.

Nappier’s case on the Columbia crimes is still pending in Monroe County Circuit Court. Her attorney is Scott Rosenblum of the Rosenblum Schwartz Fry & Johnson law firm in Clayton, Mo.

A status hearing on this case is set for Feb. 21 with Judge Chris Hitzemann presiding. A jury trial has tentatively been set for May 6.

O’Fallon Police Det. Patrick Feldhake told the Republic-Times that his department received a call on Aug. 8, 2023, from Dawn Elser Elementary School, after which an investigation took place. 

“It was an extensive investigation. It took a long time to get some of the records back,” Feldhake said. “We presented this case to the state’s attorney last week.”

Feldhake would not disclose how much money Nappier is accused of stealing from this school district.

Shortly after charges were filed against Nappier in Monroe County,  a late July 2023 article in O’Fallon Weekly reported that the Central 104 School Board voted to terminate Nappier’s at-will employment during its July 24, 2023 monthly meeting as “she has been unavailable to work.”