(Source: arkansasonline.com) The former executive director of the Hot Springs Housing Authority was ordered in federal court to repay the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development more than $5,500 for collecting twice on travel expenses.

Barbara Louise Baer also was sentenced to two years' probation and fined $500 during a brief hearing Thursday before U.S. District Judge Susan O. Hickey in Hot Springs.

Baer pleaded guilty in May to one count of embezzlement and theft of public money, according to federal court records. The government accused her of claiming mileage expenses from the federal agency and from the housing authority for the same travel from Sept. 1, 2010, to April 23, 2014, when she was fired.

The plea agreement stated an audit by the Office of Inspector General for Housing and Urban Development conducted of Baer's business practices at the housing authority showed she submitted mileage expense vouchers for reimbursement by Housing and Urban Development for her business travel using her personal vehicle. At the same time, she was charging the same fuel costs on the housing authority's credit card.

"The defendant stated she was 'double dipping' on almost every vehicle mileage expense report she submitted during her entire employment with the Hot Springs Housing Authority," the plea agreement said.

An Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article in August said the audit found the authority improperly procured or lacked support for 10 contracts totaling $611,338 during Baer's administration. The audit did not mention Baer by name but covered the time period in which Baer was executive director for the housing authority...