City of Campbell reports thousands of dollars from annual budget misused by unknown suspect

Hunt County town dealing with thousands of misused funds

Campell, a small town in Hunt County, is dealing with nearly $30,00 in misused funds, with the culprit still not yet known. FOX 4's David Sentendrey has more.

CAMPBELL, Texas - The City of Campbell is dealing with a budget crisis after thousands of city dollars were found to be misused on TikTok Shop, weight loss drugs and more.

Thousands of funds misappropriated in Campbell

What we know:

Around 150 unauthorized credit card charges have been reported by Campbell city leaders, and they suspect there are likely many more.

The reported charges happened in 2024 and 2025 and amount to more than $28,000, which is around 3.5% of the Hunt County city's annual budget being misused.

Campbell City Secretary Trisha Lowery was hired after the misappropriations occurred. She says more than $5,000 was spent on TikTok Shop, and another $5,000 was spent on weight loss pills like Ozempic.

Suspect remains unknown

Local perspective:

Lowery said during a tense city council meeting on Monday that the city is still unsure of who is responsible for misusing the city's funds.

"I cannot tell you one way or the other who made these transactions. Obviously, we all have our own opinion on who did them and how they transpired," she said. "There has to be some sort of individual identifying information that says this person used this card."

She says the city is working with authorities to hand over the investigation.

A tense Campbell City Council meeting

Residents of the 600-person town are frustrated with the situation.

"Why is it small towns?" Campbell resident James Steen told FOX 4's David Sentendrey. "Yeah, I’m upset."

James Steen, Campbell resident

Steen was at the city council meeting on Monday, and is upset no one has come forward.

"I see it happening everywhere else, but when it happens here at home, you know it hurts to know that somebody would’ve been dishonest like that," Steen told Sentendrey.

"Shame on you. Your parents should’ve taught you better."

Budget crisis hits another small Texas town

Dig deeper:

This isn't the first recent funding crisis a town in North Texas has experienced lately.

Earlier this month, the Point closed its police department after it discovered a "significant financial shortfall" in their budget.

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Point Police Department closed as city faces financial issues

The City of Point disbanded their police department following the discovery of a "substantial financial shortfall" in their city budget.

In December 2025, Point discovered payroll tax obligations to the IRS have not been consistently paid. The missed payments went back to 2018, but many of the missed payments came in the last several years.

The missed payments added additional interest and penalties, which put the city's debt at more than $300,000. In addition, a concealed misappropriation of the city's funds left the city without the money to pay all their existing city employees.