Earlier this month Sheriff Richard Leo Green of Adams County in Idaho was indicted for the misuse of public funds. Green is charged with six counts of misuse of public money in violation of Idaho Code Section 18-5701 and three counts of presentation of fraudulent accounts in violation of Idaho Code Section 18-2706.
These charges stem from Sheriff Green's use of a county issued credit card for personal purchases of around $1,200. But in the great state of Idaho these charges are felonies and Sheriff Green not only faces removal from office but also could see jail time, up to 15 years, for these infractions.
That's right he faces actual jail time for his crimes against the public's trust. We believe the state of Idaho has it right unlike here in Arkansas where a politician can admit to using public money for personal gain and go free.
Sheriff Marty Montgomery was found to have used his card to pay for his personal college tuition and other college related expenses, i.e. books. Montgomery was also found to have used his card for meals for non-county employees, hotel charges for family and friends, and other as yet to be specified purchases. But here in Arkansas Montgomery faces no charges, not even a slap on the wrist.
To further compound Montgomery's violation of the public's trust he has allowed the egregious misuse of the county's credit cards within his department without any repercussions to the violators. In fact his department gave a glowing media send off to former jail administrator Kyle Kelley who quit suddenly right before special prosecutors were to question him. The investigation revealed that the sheriff's administration took away Kelley's credit card for spending "problems" yet he remained employed in apparently good standing.
If the state of Arkansas would have had criminal laws with actual penalties for these violations of the people's tax dollars then maybe these thefts would not have happened. In our last post we talked about the need for accountability of our elected officials and the need for consequences for the misuse of public tax dollars. A good way to accomplish this is for the state legislature to adopt Idaho's idea and make the misuse of public funds a felonious act.
To that end we need to call, write, and/or email our state law makers and asked them to protect the spending of our tax dollars by sponsoring legislation that would make this kind of misuse of public money a felony.
To find out more about Idaho's law and it recent additions visit:
http://www3.state.id.us/idstat/TOC/18057KTOC.html
http://www3.state.id.us/oasis/S1303.html
To contact your local state representative visit:
http://www.arkansas.gov/house/reps.php
To contact your local state senator visit:
http://www.arkansas.gov/senate/senators.php
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