- Chelsea Boxwell, 42, is accused of stealing $164,671 in cash building permit payments in Iron County.
- She is charged with misusing public money and theft, second-degree felonies.
- Boxwell allegedly admitted to spending the money on bills and child expenses.
CEDAR CITY — A Cedar City woman was charged Wednesday with stealing more than $150,000 of cash payments that were made for building permits in Iron County.
Chelsea Boxwell, 42, is charged in 5th District Court with misusing public money and theft, second-degree felonies.
The investigation began in April when the Iron County Auditor's Office received an anonymous letter requesting "that someone take a look into the handling of cash payments within the Iron County Building Department. The Iron County auditor conducted a review and discovered a significant amount of building permit payments made in cash that could not be accounted for," according to charging documents.
By May, the State Bureau of Investigations' Major Crimes Unit was assigned to the case.
"Investigators reviewed the documentation obtained from Iron County and the combined total for missing cash payments for building permits between 2018-2025 was actually $164,671," the charges state. "The Iron County auditor explained to (the state) that the building permits had been issued and marked that they had been paid for, but a significant number of cash payments for the building permits were never deposited into Iron County's bank account and were not documented on end-of-month reports."
In June, state investigators questioned Boxwell, who said her duties as an office manager with the county included "training as a building inspector, office management and secretary duties, as well as receiving and documenting payments received for building permits at the office. She stated that she was responsible for making monthly reports on building permits to the Iron County Auditor's Office," according to the charges.
After pressing Boxwell as to whether those reports would match the information recorded in the county's computer system, she admitted to taking some of the money, the charges allege.
"When asked what she had done with the money she had taken, Ms. Boxwell stated that she had spent it on bills, child expenses and other things."
