There has been a lot of talk about who is a fault for the illegal spending at the Faulkner County Sheriff's Office. While we believe this issue ultimately rest solely on the shoulders of Sheriff Montgomery, there still is culpability that needs to be shared at the County Judge's Office and with the Quorum Court.
Arkansas Code Title 14, section 14 – 1102 Exercise of powers by the County Judge says that all disbursements of county funds must be appropriated, used for what it was appropriated for, and signed off on by the County Judge's office. It further requires that there must be a sufficient appropriation available for the purpose of the disbursement. These laws do not allow for the Sheriff's office to make payments first then figure out where they go in the budget later. Yet this is a common practice used by the County Judge’s office and it allowed the problem to occur. This practice must change to comply with the law and to prevent misspending in the future.
Now let's look at Sheriff Montgomery's tuition payment that started the investigation last year. Last year JP Catherin Blankenship discovered a payment for the tuition of Sheriff Montgomery at UCA for his continuing education quest for a master's degree and brought it to the attention of the F&A committee.
This in turn sparked questions to Montgomery from local report, Rachel Parker, who called Montgomery at home for a statement. It was then that Montgomery told his first "truth" about this payment.
Montgomery admitted to authorizing his clerk, Margie Teal, to pay his personal tuition for him while he was out of town and upon his return he was to repay it. However no repayment was found and the Finance Committee of the Quorum Court wanted answers.
This type of payment is expressly prohibited by the state for at least 3 reasons. First it was not appropriated for or otherwise approved by the County, second, it is unlawful for the county to lend its credit to anyone, even the sheriff, and third and the most important law violation is found at A.C.A 14-14-1202 Ethics for county government officers and employees.
Paragraph (c)(1) Rules of Conduct. States that no officer or employee of county government shall be interested, either directly or indirectly, in any transaction made, authorized, or entered into on behalf of the county or an entity created by the county. Now having the county pay for your personal education even with the intent to repay it is an unethical violation of the rules of conduct and should be prosecuted. While the penalty is still just a misdemeanor it would still allow for the removal from office of the offender and allow for full restitution to be made, including the $13,000 legislative audit fee.
In the ensuing fire storm this issue raised we were offered the second "truth" about this payment. In an effort to avoid the legal ramifications of Montgomery authorizing the illegal payment Montgomery tells the Quorum Court he mistakenly used the wrong card. This spin was designed to cast sympathy on the sheriff and to try to get the Court to simply let him repay the money without any further action taken.
The Quorum Court however voted for an audit and a special prosecutor was appointed. This is when we get the third "truth" of this payment. Montgomery's attorney, Ralph Ohm, told Special Prosecutor Tabor that this tuition payment allowed Montgomery to "better perform his duties" as sheriff. While Tabor did not agree with this explanation he nonetheless accepted this offer and did not proceed down this path.
The real truth is that this payment is illegal and the citizens of this county did not receive justice for this crime. The really sad part is this is just one instance of an illegal payment directly tied to Montgomery, there are many, many more that have also gone overlooked. Tabor said it himself, "it is obvious to me the Sheriff incurred or authorized expenditures which should not have been approved or paid by the County."
Just another Good Ol' Boy getting away with everything short of murder. . .
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