Jessica "Nikki" Conger, wife of newly-elected Jackson Mayor Scott Conger, was cited for shoplifting Sunday.

Jessica Conger allegedly failed to ring up and pay for 28 items at a self-checkout register at Walmart on Emporium Drive around 3 p.m., according to court documents. The cost of the items totaled just over $84.

Scott Conger defended his wife Tuesday, saying his children, who are both under five years old, often put items in the cart that he and his wife return to the shelves after they go through check out.

"She wasn't allowed to go through her normal process," he said. "It's frustrating and it's maddening, but I guess don't mess up at the self-checkout at Walmart."

She was issued a misdemeanor citation and cited into court, meaning she was not taken into custody. Jessica Conger must report to the Madison County Jail for booking and processing before Aug. 2 and will appear in Jackson City Court for her arraignment.

The loss prevention officer at Walmart was not immediately available for comment.

This story will be updated as more information is available.

Conger responds on Facebook

Conger defended his wife further on Facebook on Tuesday, posting a statement at 5 p.m.

"If I can say one thing about all of this, it would be that we sure do know how to start things off with a bang.

It’s been an interesting first few weeks at the mayor’s office. I’ve promised to always be transparent and keep you updated so I owe you an explanation for today’s media story about my wife.

Nikki is a loving wife and nurturing mother and I will forever be grateful to her for putting her teaching career on pause to help raise our two children.

Over the weekend, she took our oldest daughter to Walmart. Right or wrong- we let our children add items to the cart to avoid a scene and fight that battle at the checkout by putting the unwanted items in the area designated for things that need to be restocked.

It’s not our best parenting decision, but we pick our battles and toddlers have a lot of battles.

On this particular day, Nikki was having issues with self-checkout and had called the staff over several times to make sure things were ringing up correctly. She was also scanned the same item (craft glue & ribbon) multiple times for the same item instead of scanning them individually. The cashier had to void several items, too. It was a bit of a mess and having a toddler doesn’t help the process go smoothly. People that are trying to steal, don’t usually ask for help during the act.

She placed $200 worth of items that she paid for in bags and left the items she did not want to purchase in the buggy to be put in the unwanted items cart. She walked over to apologize to the staff for needing so much assistance and they quickly escorted her to a separate room with our daughter for questioning.

They were detained for hours. My daughter was not allowed to use the restroom and had an accident. She was hungry because it was lunch time and was not allowed to eat. My three-year-old was a prisoner of Walmart.

Two months ago the city told Walmart that JPD would no longer be taking accused shoplifters to jail. This particular Walmart has a very strong anti-theft policy and they can be overzealous with their accusations. This would not be a story if she wasn’t my wife.

We will be going through the booking process, just like everyone else. I thank you for your compassion during this misunderstanding. In the meantime, I hear Kroger Grocery Pickup is fantastic."

Reach Cassandra Stephenson at ckstephens@jacksonsun.com or at (731) 694-7261. Follow Cassandra on Twitter at @CStephenson731.

Reach Adam Friedman by email at afriedman@jacksonsun.com, by phone at 731-431-8517 or follow him on Twitter @friedmanadam5.