AUSTELL, Ga. -- Austell officials said on Monday that a court clerk took more than $121,000 from the city from 2003 to 2008 and used at least some of the money to pay her bills.

Patricia Regina Wilcurt was arrested Monday and jailed without bond on charges of theft by taking and making a false statement in writing to a government entity. She's been a court employee since 1999. Authorities said they expect Wilcurt to turn herself in Tuesday.

“She was totally unassuming. You wouldn't think she would do anything like that,” said Teresa Barfield, an acquaintence of Wilcurt.

Austell Mayor Joe Jerkins said the money was found to be missing during a routine audit. Fees and fines paid to the court are usually logged in two places -- one at the court, the other with deposits at City Hall.

Wilcurt is accused of changing the amounts logged with the deposits to hide the thefts. Officials said the two records hadn't been compared side-by-side before.

Jerkins said the two records will be crosschecked for accuracy from now on.

Jerkins told CBS 46’s Joanna Massee that Wilcurt was still getting paid last week, even though Jerkins said she admitted to the theft.

“She was collecting a paycheck while she was admitting that she stole from the city?” Massee asked.

“Well, we only got down to the nitty gritty last week,” Jerkins answered. “I told them to put her on administrative leave with pay and so (she got) about a week of pay.”

"Can the public trust a government that allowed this to happen?" Massee asked.

"Well, I think so. We have audit firms to catch this," Jerkins said.