The 20th Judicial District 2014 General Election.

That’s right, it’s time once again for the people of Faulkner County to once again go to the polls and vote for our government representatives. It’s a process that we should all know all too well but it shouldn’t be taken lightly. This year the people are ask to vote for 4 of the 5 Circuit Judge positions in the 20^th Judicial District and those races haven’t been without controversy. A Circuit Judge is a powerful position to hold in justice system. They are the judges that interact with the public in all types of cases and their rulings set presences that define how our laws are interrupted. So it’s important that the people we elect to this position a) see our laws as we see them and b) that they are above reproach. Sadly however things just don’t always turn out that way.

One of our long time circuit judges, Judge Mike Maggio, showed us how badly it can turn out with his racist, sexist, and homophobic comments in an online forum. But it doesn’t end there, the judge also admittedly gave details of a sealed adoption case he reportedly handled and he is currently under investigation for reducing a jury’s verdict in a case involving a contributor to his campaign for a seat on the Arkansas Court of Appeals. Judge Maggio has resigned from the race for a Court of Appeals seat and has had his case load in the circuit court reassigned effectively leaving the good people of this district one judge short. You can read more about this at the Blue Hog Report. One does have to wonder how deep this rabbit hole goes when you think about the length of time Judge Maggio has been on the bench.

The end of Judge Maggio’s judicial career may have started with the stupid comments he made online but that kind of stupidity comes from an arrogant lack of character. A good judge needs to have the kind of integrity and responsibility that keeps them humble in their duty to uphold our laws. They are, after all, our representatives. Here are the choices before us this time around:

DIVISION 1 Candidates:

Judge Amy Brazil, current 5^th division judge

Mike Murphy, Conway City Attorney

DIVISION 2 Candidates:

Troy Braswell, Deputy Prosecutor

Joe Don Winningham

DIVISION 4 Candidates:

Judge David Clark, current 4^th division judge 

Angela Byrd, former Deputy Prosecutor

DIVISION 5 Candidates:

H.G. Foster, current 1^st division judge 

Doralee Chandler

The polls will close on the evening of May 20^th this year, early voting will begin on May 5^th. 

Spending is again a problem at the FCSO.

At the last F & A Committee meeting committee members met to start the budget process for next year's budgets just as they do every year at this time. This year however more problems arose when the committee reviewed spending at the Faulkner County Sheriff's Office.

Log Cabin Reporter Daniel Doyle reported that the F & A committee "grappled with the jail spending" once again. If you recall this is the department whose head, Kyle Kelley, resigned in the middle of an investigation into illegal spending. An investigation where a special prosecutor found what he called "egregious incidents of theft and fraud" but due to the limited scope of investigation issued by circuit Judge Charles Clawson, Jr. no charges were filed and no money was recovered.

This latest problem however is one of inadequate record keeping. Apparently members of the sheriff's staff hadn't calculated some of the November appropriations before presenting it to the committee. Doyle writes,

Secretary Mike Hutchens was so frustrated he called it "stupid" that sheriff's officials hadn't calculated certain FCSO appropriations for November's monthly finance ordinance.

"What we were supposed to be doing tonight were normal appropriations, like at any other F&A meeting," Hutchens said. "There's so much to go through, I'm not even sure right at the moment what to say as far as 'what went on.'

It is amazing that after more that 2 years of spending problems at the department they still cannot manage to balance their checkbook so to speak. We think this is one of the biggest problems that led to the theft of taxpayer's money, inadequate controls on spending.

We had a discussion with Chief Deputy Steve Wallace about the departments spending procedures shortly after the helicopter purchase was announced. We asked Wallace if it was a common practice to split purchases between two different departments and his reply was shocking to say the least.

According to Wallace the sheriff's office is in charge of seven different budgets with similar line item appropriations set up in each department. If they don't have enough money in one then they arbitrarily take money from another without any approval by the quorum court. According to the law this is illegal. The law states that all funds must be spent as they are appropriated, this means that if 5,000 is appropriated to the Emergency Squad for fuel it must be spent for fuel in that department. The only way for this money to be spent by other departments is by a re-appropriation by the court.

Wallace claims that his office has no other choice in the matter. We see this as wrong, their only legal choice is to go to the Finance committee, that meets once a month, and request more money. This is how the system is supposed to work. Judging by the lack of proper record keeping we say that they are not even aware of overspending until after the fact. This 'procedure' must change in order to protect us from misspending.

We had a talk with Sheriff-elect Karl Byrd who tells us one of his first priorities will be hiring a fiscal control officer whose job it will be to make sure spending is done properly. Byrd will be asking the Quorum Court for this officer as soon as he takes office. It is our hope that the JP's heed his request for the protection of our tax dollars.

The County pays a sheriff's deputy $6,200 for a vehicle in violation of the law.

The latest Legislative Audit report is finally published and it reveals another spending violation at the Sheriff's Office. Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1202 states that no officer or employee of county government shall be interested in any transaction made by the county unless the quorum court previously approved that purchase.

According to the report Deputy Jake (Jack?) Pike was paid $6,200 for a vehicle in apparent direct violation of this law. The Auditors recommend action be taken by the Prosecuting attorney's office.

In reading this report we have a few questions and concerns about it. First it was dated August 31, 2006 yet it was not made public until recently. What is the reason for this delay? Secondly is an investigation ongoing into this misspending? Or will this just me another case where the law will be overlooked for another member of the good old boy system.

With Sheriff Montgomery's time in office quickly coming to an end we the citizens of this county must wonder how much more misspending will be uncovered. We also have to wonder how much more misspending is yet to come as his term ends.

The citizens of this state desperately need better laws that will punish these offenses, we need to make these kinds of crimes a felony that are prosecutable at the state level. But what can we do about it you ask? You can call or write your local State Senator or Representative and ask them to sponsor a drafted bill, MBM516, that will make the misspending of public money a felony. As we see it this is our only chance of preventing further misspending.

Byrd is the word!

There is going to be a new sheriff in town and there is every indication he is going to be a good one. State Police Investigator Karl Byrd defeated Ret. State Police Major Jim Elliott last night by an unofficial margin on 3174 votes.

We had a chance to catch up to sheriff elect Byrd at his watch party last night and he told us he’s looking forward for the opportunity to make the sheriff’s office a more progressive law enforcement agency.

Byrd also took the opportunity to introduce us to who he will be naming Chief Deputy once he takes office, Ret. State Police Lt. Jerry Gross of Conway.

We must say that we too are looking forward to the changes Byrd has in store for the people of Faulkner County. Who knows with a lot of hard work and a lot dedication Karl Byrd just might succeed in making a department that even we’d be proud of…

Good Luck Karl.

Get out and vote

Today is the day for many important races in this county. We will be at the Karl Byrd / Preston Scroggin watch party tonight after 8:00 pm. We will hopefully be updating the results in these races at our site. Visit our election page for these results.

The future of this county is now in your hands, please get out and vote if you have not already done so.

Do the math. . .

There has been a lot of talk in the county about the delinquent fines and how to collect them. So much so that it has become a campaign issue for the candidates for sheriff, Democrat Karl Byrd and Republican Jim Elliott.

At a recent political forum hosted by the Faulkner County Leadership Institute and the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce these candidate squared off on this issue. David Keith, moderator the event, asked both candidates what they would do to collect outstanding fines and debts owed to the county. Log Cabin reporter Rachel Parker, who covered the event, wrote this about they responses:

Elliott said he wants to address the issue immediately and begin serving arrest warrants, now that the new jail is finished. Once the county begins arresting people for unpaid fines, others may come forward voluntarily to pay, he said.

Byrd said he would look at other options besides incarcerating the offenders because jail space is needed for violent offenders. He said he would work with judges and attorneys to look into putting liens on offenders' property and garnishing their paychecks.

Now before we examine these approaches to the problem lets see how bad the problem really is. Currently there are 3,437 people owing a total of $10,004,416 in delinquent fines. If that wasn't enough we also have to consider the 11,287 outstanding misdemeanor warrants and 6,437 outstanding felony warrants. To say the least we are way behind. Criminals in this county seem to have the upper hand while our law enforcement and judicial officials are drowning in this sea of growing numbers. Clearly something must be done to alleviate this problem.

Now let's look at the candidates solutions to this growing problem. Elliott says he wants to immediately start incarcerating these delinquent offenders for non-compliance and hope others come forward and pay. While this idea sounds reasonable at first, let's just put 'em in jail, that'll learn 'em, but considering the limited jail space this idea has many faults. Besides shaming them into compliance by publishing their names hasn't worked, scaring them into compliance will not work either. Wishing and hoping has already been done with very poor results, Elliott really missed the mark on this one.

Byrd's idea however shows some real promise. Byrd wants the county to hire an attorney on salary who does nothing more than go after these delinquents by attaching liens to their properties, garnishing wages, and garnishing tax returns. While this idea sounds like what Within Sight Collections was trying to do however it differs in one very important way, all the money collected will go to the county rather than a percentage of it. The law says that a portion of all fines must go to the court and that portion cannot be used for any other purpose. This means that a collection agency cannot claim any part of the court's money.

In Byrd's plan all the money goes to it's rightful place while the county pays only for the attorney's salary, additional court costs and fees would be attached to the fine holder's balance. Another advantage to this plan would be it does not put any extra burden on the jails helping them remain open, the last thing we need is to fill them up once again with non-compliant fine holders. Byrd wins this one with some creative thinking.

Deputy Stabbed, Suspect Shot

Breaking News: A Faulkner County Deputy was transported by helicopter to a Little Rock Hospital after being stabbed several times while serving court papers to a Conway man. Donald Jones, who is alleged to have caused several knife wounds to the Deputy, was shot during the altercation.

The condition of both men remains unclear at the time of this post. We will update you when information becomes available.

Update: Faulkner County Sheriff's Deputy Dalton Elliott and his unidentified partner were serving suspect 21 year-old Donald Jones with an order to go before a judge for a psychological evaluation when Jones allegedly attack them. Deputy Elliott reportedly received several knife wounds before his partner was able to shoot Jones. Both the suspect and deputy Elliott are in stable condition.

Elliot has been at the sheriff’s office for 6 years. We all wish him a fast recovery.

* Photo courtesy of the Log Cabin Democrat.

Sheriff Montgomery, one class act

First we'd like to apologize to our readers. We have been dealing with some personal issues and haven't posted in over a month. As a result we have some catching up to do, so here it goes. . .
 
Earlier this month the new jail opened and is now housing inmates as we understand it, it's about time that this project was finished. The opening of our new facility sparked a new resolve by the county, pay up or get locked up.
 
County Administrator Mike Hutchens said recently in an interview in the ADG,  "If you owe money on fines when that jail opens, they're not going to send you back home [from court]; you're going to jail," Administrator Mike Hutchens. "All these people have kind of been sliding" because of a lack of jail space. But now, he said, "There's getting ready to be room for a lot of people." Of course the jail is now open but we haven't heard if it has effected the collection of delinquent fines yet.
 
We do know of one person in particular who is still sliding by on his fines. Our neighbor, Hank Turknett, not only has refused paying his fines, he has also refuses to pay his restitution for his 2004 assault conviction. We will be watching with baited breath to see if this new jail space will mean jail time for this particular deadbeat.
 
Another good thing about the new jail's opening is now criminals can be put in jail for their crimes, at least for a little while (the new jail is going to fill up fast). One deputy shared his thoughts on this with the ADG in the same article.
 
"I can't tell you how frustrating it is to pick up someone and be told just give them a ticket and let them go when you know" the offender will likely break the law again, said Lt. Rick Beavers, Even with the extra space, "it's not going to be very long before they're full."
 
It's nice to see that they have finally started admitting publicly that the crowded jail has allowed crimes to go unpunished and fines to go uncollected. It looks like things are finally starting to look up for the sheriff's office. That is until Sheriff Marty Montgomery raised his ‘less than perfect' head back into the spotlight.
 
After many months of laying low Sheriff Montgomery emerges from his public silence still claiming he did nothing wrong. Montgomery told members of the Quorum Court he has no intentions of repaying the money he spent for his tuition payment. A payment that has already been determined to be illegal by auditors for the state, a special prosecutor however decided not to charge Montgomery for this illegal expenditure.
 
Montgomery said "all classes were approved as necessary and beneficial according to the guidelines of our policy and procedure manual. Therefore, I have no intention of reimbursing Faulkner County for any of those charges". How convenient is this, who exactly determined the classes were necessary and beneficial? The Sheriff? His lawyer? It sure wasn't the taxpayer.
The funny thing about this tuition payment is that at the time Montgomery made it he knew it was wrong because he told a clerk he'd repay it. And if it was a legal payment then why wasn't there more of them? The fact is this is simply spin designed to get Montgomery out of hot water, and it worked. The Quorum Court voted not to proceed with the collection of this illegal tuition payment citing the legal cost involved.

We cannot agree with the Quorum Court on this matter. Their failure to enforce the state's spending procedures leaves the door open for other such illegal actions. A possible example of such an illegal payment is the sheriff's recent purchase of the Bell OH58 helicopter.

Once again Montgomery arrogantly side steps the accepted and legal spending policies set forth by the state to purchase a 38-year old dinosaur of an aircraft without the approval of the Quorum Court. The QC and its Finance Committee are supposed to be the taxpayer's representatives who manage and oversees the spending of the county's money. They are our only line of defense in protecting the county from bankruptcy. It is their duty to decide what we spend our money on. Montgomery's unwillingness to work with the QC can only hurt a department he's spent the last 10 years running.

The county could very well benefit from the addition of a helicopter but only if we can afford to maintain and fly it. Even if you take Montgomery's figures of $200 to $250 per hour multiplied by the 100 hours per year estimated usage that comes to $20,000 to $25,000 per year. We are told by members of the F&A committee that there's no room in the budget for that expense. The overall costs to the county to maintain this aircraft will be far greater than Montgomery is letting on. Then there is the issuance payments to be considered as well as any cost involved making sure we have FAA approved pilots and mechanics.

The bottom line here is the selfish, arrogant, and vindictive way this purchase was made. Montgomery demonstrates once again what a class act he is. One step forward two steps back must be a favorite phrase of Montgomery. The truly scary part of this is what's next for Montgomery to spend our money on, a new fleet of patrol cars? New Computers for the Sheriff's Office? If he can purchase a helicopter without approval why not buy these items? After why should he care, he's not going to be in charge next year, the budget's not going to be his problem. The JP's and the County Judge's office really needs to tighten the reigns on Montgomery before we are on the hook for thousands of dollars we can't pay for.

New Police Officers for Conway

The Conway City Council approved 6 new police officers for the CPD this past Tuesday. The department will have 103 sworn officers after the addition of these new hires. Conway Police Chief Randall Aragon says the new officers were greatly needed by the community.
 
"Calls to service went up five percent from 2004 to 2005. In 2005 we had about 30,024 calls," he told Log Cabin reporter Stefanie Sampson. "Let's prevent that bicycle from being stolen and come up with a solution to prevent future crimes," adds Aragon.
 
The department is focusing their efforts on community policing to make the streets of Conway safer. The addition of the officers will give the department just below two officers per thousand citizens, a ratio that is comparable to cities of this size, according to Aragon.
 
Police also say that both violent and property crimes in Conway were up between 6 and 7 percent in 2005 matching a disturbing trend that is plaguing the law enforcement community all across the state. The addition of these new officers coupled with a restructure on roles within the CPD is the department's proactive attempt to stop this trend.

This philosophy is needed at the county level of law enforcement as well. For far too long the Faulkner County Sheriff's Office has been focusing mainly on reacting to crime rather that trying to prevent it. In far too many cases this reaction has come too little, too late leaving victims out in the cold with justice simply out of their reach. A push for more deputies and a more proactive approach to law enforcement is what the new sheriff needs to bring to the department.

The next question will be how to fund this, one way might be the massive delinquent fines the courts are owed. At last check there was an outstanding balance of more that 9.8 million dollars in delinquent fines. In the recent past the county has tried to address this problem by spending thousands of dollars printing the names of the offenders owing fines in the paper, this approach has failed and the fines remain unpaid.

Prior to this idea the Quorum Court rejected a plan to use a collection ageny that was offered by a local company, Within Sight, opting to have the sheriff's office handle this when the new jail opens. But this plan holds little chance of success when you consider the new jail is rated for less than 275 inmates and there are over 3000 people owing fines.

We emailed Chief Aragon about his recent time in the media spotlight. We wanted to remind him that the county's jail and fine collection problems have an affect on the city's crime rate, after all the county's judicial and incarceration systems are used by the city. Chief Aragon stated he is in favor of the collection agency plan and he plans on talking to his JP about adopting the program.

Aragon said, "I support (and have expressed such) your commentary on the collection agency issue and would hope that the county adopts that program; which is used nationally for collecting traffic ticket fines, etc."

It is time once again to revisit a collection agency plan for collecting the delinquent fines.

This Week's Stories

Stories from around the county this week include the following:

Greenbrier: A Greenbrier man facing charges for possession of a meth-lab admits to investigators that he has cooked methamphetamine while out on bond but remains free.

In April of this year William Dean Hamrick, 30, of Greenbrier was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to manufacture methamphetamine after authorities were call to his home to put out a fire. But due to an overcrowded jail Hamrick was released on a sheriff's bond.

Since that time authorities have received information that Hamrick may be continuing to produce methamphetamine. This past Sunday investigators had a chance to talk to him about this information after Hamrick was stopped for traffic violation in Greenbrier.

Upon interrogation Hamrick readily admits that he has continued to produce methamphetamine in a lab outside this county's jurisdiction and bringing the portions of the lab back to his Greenbrier home. Authorities were given permission to search his shop but found no evidence to corroborate his claims so as a result they let him go.

Now at the time of Hamrick's release in April he signed a standard release form that states he is to uphold the laws of the state while out on bond or risk having his bond revoked. Since that time he has been charged with a number of misdemeanor crimes some of which are resisting arrest and fleeing. And now he admits to producing more methamphetamine and is not behind bars.

Hamrick is one lucky man, lucky to be out of jail on bond to continue his criminal activities. We wonder how much methamphetamine he made while he was out on bond.

Conway: Faulkner County authorities rescue 32 dogs from a residence in the county after receiving a tip that their owner neglected them. Two different stories were recently published about this case of neglect. Here is what KTHV reporter Stefanie Bryant reported,

[Faulkner Co. Humane Society Executive Director] Cheryl Belazs describes what they saw in the home when they rescued the animals, "There were inches of feces covering the entire property especially indoors. A lot of the dogs did have medical conditions and were really living in unacceptable conditions."

According to Belazs, they were living at the home with the owner, who she calls a collector orhoarder. "Collecting or hoarding is where people take on exorbitant numbers of animals thinking that they're saving them and often they're not able to take care of them."

She says it's a mental condition that eventually takes over.

The owner has not been charged because the animals were being fed and given water.

Currently there is no law in the county on how many animals can be kept at the home. Faulkner County Quorum Court Member Jerry Park says, "I would like to at some point have an ordinance in place so that we can step in, the county with the county humane officer to do just that."

Park says they first want to find a place for the animals, like building an appropriate shelter. All of that costs money and could mean a tax.

Park continues, "I don't know any other way to do it. Anytime you start mentioning tax people get up in arms about it and you say you really can't blame them."

In all, 18 dogs survived. With a little training and love, Belazs says these dogs will make great pets. "They're still available and are being taken care of at various houses until they're well enough to be adopted."

No word on what will happen with the owner.
The Humane society met with the Quorum court on what action should be taken, including making sure the property is cleaned up.

13 dogs are still available for adoption. If you would like one, you can contact the Faulkner County Humane Society at 501-329-2361.

The new jail opening has also been in the TV news media spotlight of late. KATV reports,

Conway (AP) - Officials in Faulkner County are preparing to open the county's new jail. The $6 million jail will have room for 158 inmates. Jail managers are making a few minor fixes before they can start training guards and other staff.

Workers are to install flooring at the jail on July 6 and jailers will be able to train about one week after the floors are complete. Officials say the jail should be ready for inmates the first week in August.

We however remember a Log Cabin article that places the maximum number of inmates at 274. Also from KATV we read that a high crime rate, especially for the crime of murder, is being blamed on a crowded Pulaski County Jail. Imagine that, a overcrowded jail can lead to a higher crime rate, where have we heard that before.

Coming up in later editions of this blog will be the warrant process. We have a nearly 1 million dollar computer networking system (AIJIS) but it still takes about three working days to process a Failure to Appear Warrant.

New Jail is again the topic

In this past Tuesday's Quorum Court Meeting there were some changes discussed there too. In a previous meeting JP Dan Thessing had moved that the court name the new jail after former JP Ann Harrell. On Tuesday Thessing wanted to have Harrell's name removed from consideration. The Court agreed and voted in favor of Thessing's newest motion. Thessing said they would find a more appropriate way to honor former JP Harrell. Could the recent problems and the extensive delays cause this action? Probably.

Speaking of the new jail, Sergeant Glen Wilcox addressed the issue of problems with the completion of the new jail in a letter addressed Major Bobby Brown, jail administrator. County Administrator Mike Hutchens read the contents of this letter to the court. It seems there are a few more problems that have to be addressed before the new floor sealant can begin.

Computer problems with three doors and a generator enunciator top the short list of remaining problems that are to be fixed before the flooring crew can begin; Wilcox estimates the jail will open the first week of August.

JP Jimmy Bryant addressed the court and members of the media to clear up what he called a misunderstanding on the part of some citizens of the county. Bryant says he understands that some people believe that the cost of the repairs being done to the jail is costing the county revenue.

"The builder is paying for the repairs to the detention center," Bryant said.


We here at the FCSO.INFO blog would like to again add that the costs the county is experiencing in the delayed opening of the new jail isn't about what the county is spending but more about what the county is losing. The ability to collect fines and to house inmates is being hindered by these delays. With a 9.8 million dollar debt owed to the county and people out on sheriff's bonds free to continue their illegal activities we maintain that these delays are costing us plenty.

All is not lost

We are back once again. The FCSO.INFO server is back online and ready to go...

Server Down, looking for a new host

Our web host has failed us again, the FCSO.INFO site is down and possibly lost. We are looking for a new host and will be rebuilding our main site as soon as possible. In the meantime look for new post here.

Thank you for your patience while we rebuild.

If I pay it back is it still a crime?

This is a great state to live and work, especially if you are an employee or an elected official of the state. In yet another case of egregious misuse of public funds the alleged offender apparently will not face criminal charges. John Harris director of the Arkansas Board of Architects is accused of receiving more than $100,000 in unauthorized travel reimbursements and falsified some travel records but faces nothing more than public embarrassment, according to Rep. Jim Medley, R-Fort Smith

On March 1st Harris resigned his post at the Board of Architects and has repaid over $100,000 in misspend tax dollars but admits no intentional wrongdoing. In an Associated Press article writer Andrew DeMillo writes,

"Despite the fact that Mr. Harris disputes any contention that he owes money to, or that he intentionally committed any wrongdoing, he has now reimbursed the state for all the sums the Legislative Audit contends are due,"Little Rock lawyer Patrick R. James wrote in the letter.

James added, "We understand the payment of these sums brings this matter to an end."

In this county you may remember special prosecutors finding egregious incidents of theft and fraud and in similar fashion no charges were filed. Is there no accountability or criminal liability for state employee's or elected officials?

Fortunately for us taxpayers this latest case of abuse got their attention and has raised their awareness of the problem. Senator Percy Malone, D-Arkadelphia was reported saying,

"This is the most egregious situation I've seen since I've been a legislator. This is a whole lot of money, and there's a whole lot of questions left.

[. . . ]

What we've created in Arkansas ... is a situation where you can rob a bank and if you get caught, all you have to do is pay it back,"Malone said.

Rep. Jim Medley, R-Fort Smith adds, "About all the leverage we have is some sort of public outcry when something like this happens."

These sentiments are likely shared by most, if not all, of us taxpayers. It is down right outrageous that an elected or an appointed official can get away with misusing public money. All one has to do, if he gets caught is claim ignorance and repay the funds. This does nothing to deter future acts of misuse, what we need are actual laws that make this kind of activity illegal.

If you have read this site's support us page you'd see that new legislation making the misuse of public funds a crime is in the works. Thanks to Rep. Preston Scroggin, D-Vilonia, a new bill will be introduced at the 2007 legislative session that, if passed, will make the misuse of public funds a felony in cases like this one.

With any luck, and help from you and the mainstream media, we can get this passed into law to help prosecutors stop these kinds of abuses.

Be watching for this proposed legislation in Feb 2007…

Winning the Meth War, is it possible

Can the war against methamphetamine really be won? That remains to be seen. In a case that is far too close to us we are seeing some of the difficulties involved. In our last post we told you about the suspected meth lab located next door.

Out on a sheriff's bond because of an overcrowded jail this alleged offender is free to keep up his criminal activities if he chooses to do so. And as addictive as methamphetamine is there is a real possibility of that happening.

For years now this county has seen quite a few problems involving an overcrowded jail, problems that affect many of use law-abiding citizens in one way or another. Everything from poor inmate care that has lead to many lawsuits, to criminal offenders walking the streets free because the jail is closed, to court ordered fines and restitution going collected again because the jail is closed.

To make matters worse we have the still growing problem of methamphetamine, the biggest illegal drug menace in America. Here in Arkansas the number of people seeking treatment at more than 200 publicly funded treatment centers across the state has risen. In 2004, the number of meth admissions was a little more than 5,000 people. By 2005 that number has grown to more than 6,700.

The number of meth arrest also doubled during roughly the same period. The state of Utah is the only state that matches Arkansas's 100% increase in the number of meth arrests. In June 2005 a National Association of Counties survey of 500 law enforcement agencies showed Arkansas and Utah as the only states where meth-related arrests went up 100 percent over the past 12 months.

With these kinds of increases coupled with the overcrowded conditions of the prisons and county jails in this state it doesn't appear that the battle against meth is being won. The war against this epidemic is not over yet however. New laws regulating the sale of cold pills and programs like criminal nuisance abatement are helping communities fight this war.

One such program is working in the city of North Little Rock. The S.A.F.E. (Support, Abatement, Fines and Enforcement) team was designed to be a comprehensive criminal nuisance abatement program that allows cities to fight crime by utilizing civil laws to shutdown crack houses, meth-labs, and properties that are havens for criminal activity. Under this program landlords are giving incentives (support) to improve their property or legal action against the non-compliant tenants and landlords will be taken.

Members of the 20th District Drug Task Force have recently been backing a proposal for a criminal nuisance abatement ordinance in the city of Conway and would like to see it at the county level as well. Speaking as a county resident who had and quite possible still has a meth lab literally right next door we think this is a good idea. You should too, after all with the increases in meth related arrests we have seen lately how long do you think it will take before a meth lab is built next door to your home? Assuming that one isn't there already, of course.

Can the war against methamphetamine really be won? Only with a concerted effort on the part of federal, state, and local officials working with the community and the media to catch, incarcerate, and rehabilitate these offenders and clean up properties that have become havens for criminal activity. This is the challenge our new and returning elected officials must face, a challenge that is important to us all.

Meth, a growing concern

Now that the primaries are over and the victory celebrations have ceased it is time to get down to the issues facing this county. In a recent article in the Log Cabin Democrat both remaining candidates for sheriff feel narcotics enforcement is an important issue in Faulkner County.

According to the DEA's website methamphetamine has become Arkansas' primary drug of concern. While the state's new pharmaceutical laws have reduced the amount of meth labs in operation the number of arrests for possession of meth is still on the rise. Recently we talked with candidate Karl Byrd about this problem.

Byrd, a long time warrior in the fight against illegal drugs,
Says this is due to an increase in the amount of meth making it's way up from Mexico. A fact that is confirmed by information listed on the DEA's website, it states,

The state is encountering locally produced methamphetamine as well as the importation of methamphetamine produced in Mexico. Not only does the state's rural landscape provide an ideal setting for illicit manufacturing, but the wide availability of precursor chemicals also contributes to the ease of manufacturing methamphetamine. Criminal groups are acquiring thousands of cases of pseudoephedrine via wholesalers and use sophisticated schemes to illegally ship, at a considerable profit, pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine producers.

While all these facts and figures give us an idea on the scope of the problem they cannot prepare you when this problem hits your home like it has ours. This past week we have been given an unfortunate education and a new prospective of the problem.

On Friday, May 19th we once again had to call the sheriff's office when a neighbor caused a disturbance in our neighborhood. In a drunken and hyped up state our neighbor was throwing his furniture out the windows, slamming and breaking walls and other objects in his home, and shouting out profanities about his recent separation from his significant other. So I yelled over the fence asking him to take it inside because there are kids out and they didn't need to see or hear that, he responded with threats. Not knowing what he would do next and fearing that someone was there and needed help I called 911.

The deputies responded in force this time and arrested him for disorderly conduct, public intoxication, resisting arrest, fleeing, and possession of a controlled substance. Upon further investigation we found that this was his second arrest in as many months for possession of a control substance and he is currently awaiting trial for having the makings of a meth lab in his shop.

In March of this year the neighbor had a fire in his shop that was believe to have been started by chemicals used in the production of meth. The Drug Task Force (DTF) was called and the burn remnants of the lab were taking into evidence.

About one month later the neighbor called the Greenbrier PD threatening suicide because his wife left him. He says he has a drug problem and did meth the night before. He was arrested for a warrant issued by the DTF's investigation the month before and more drug paraphernalia was confiscated.

He spent only one night in jail and was released on a sheriff's bond, still think the delays at the new jail aren't costing us, only to get out and continue his criminal ways. In his recent arrest he spent 6 days in jail but is now free again and back in the neighborhood.

We understand that in our justice system it takes time to prosecute criminal offenders and in time our neighbor will not be a problem, however he is a problem now and possibly will be for months while he awaits trial and jail, if convicted.

It will be interesting to see what comes of these cases over the next few months. Will the prosecutors and the courts step up and do what's right? It remains to be seen…

Byrd and Elliott win primaries

Democratic Primary

Karl Byrd 3925 (67%)
Jack Pike 1901 (33%)

Republican Primary

Jim Elliott 1294 (78%)
Ronnie Buckner 365 (22%)


Candidate Karl Byrd has defeated his opponent, Lt. Jack Pike, in the Democratic primary election on Tuesday. Byrd will now face Jim Elliott who defeated career candidate Ronnie Buckner in the Republican primary election.

Both candidates stress the need for change within the department to combat both the bad image the department has been given by recent events and the threat of rising crime rates that can come with the population increase the this county has seen and will continue to see.

In today’s Log Cabin Stefanie Sampson writes,

"The voters in Faulkner County have shown they want good, progressive law enforcement, and they know I have good intentions to take them there," Byrd said.

Byrd said he is still focused on opening the line of communications between the sheriff's office and both the citizens of Faulkner County and the Quorum Court. In addition, Byrd would like to turn the office into a proactive department.

Both of Tuesday's winners feel narcotics enforcement are an important issue in Faulkner County.

Elliott said he envisions greater manpower on the secondary roads in Faulkner County to prevent thefts and rolling methamphetamine labs.

He said, so far, the race has been run on credentials, but the rest of the race must be run on how the candidates see themselves in the office.

"I strongly feel we need a checks and balances system for expenditures, so I am able to spot review all financial expenditures. There will also be someone who would check all the expenditures," Elliott said.

He said serving back-warrants and getting criminals off the streets and in the new jail are very important. He wants to explore the feasibility and practicality of expanding the jail work crew to keep Faulkner County clean.

These are all very good points and both these candidates would make a good sheriff; this will be a close race. We have reset our poll so you can once again vote for who you think will win.

It's Primary Day!

Well the day of the primary is finally here, today is the day when we find out who will be the final candidates for the Race for Sheriff in Faulkner County. In our estimation we think the race will come down to Democratic candidate Karl Byrd and Republican candidate Jim Elliott. Our readers seem to agree and have voted as follows in our poll:

Karl Byrd (D) - 211 votes (74.82%)
Jim Elliott (R) - 50 votes (17.73%)
Jack Pike (D) - 14 votes (4.96%)
Ronnie Buckner (R) - 7 votes (2.48%)

Both the leading candidates in the Race for Sheriff have experience at the state level working for the State Police and both these candidates have similar platforms expressing the need for change. In the next coming months it will be interesting to see how this race will go. Of course we may be counting our chickens before they hatch because anything happen. As the old saying goes that fat lady hasn't sang yet but let's just say she warming up her old windpipes.

Other races of interest on this day are those of Faulkner County Circuit Clerk and Justice of the Peace District 4.

In the Circuit Clerk's race we have two candidates with deputy circuit clerk experience, one is currently the chief deputy circuit clerk. In our poll our readers have picked current Chief Deputy Clerk Ronda S. Long as the winner voting as follows:

Rhonda S. Long (D) - 81 votes (85.26%)
Lorraine Wilkinson (D) – 14 votes (14.74%)

In the Justice of the Peace District 4 we have seen very little input from the public in this race. In our poll we have seen only a handful of votes but we think this will be a close one. Our readers voted:

Russell T. Webb (D) - 10 (66.67%)
JP Barbara Mathes (D) - 5 (33.33%)

At the State level we have several important races that will be set today. A couple of them will be decided today as well. In the State Senate we have two senate district which include Faulkner County, district 18 and 29, that will be decided today as well as a heated House of Representative District 47 race that has 4 candidates running. To find out more about these candidates visit Arelections.org.

But once again "it aign't over till it over" so get out and vote if you haven't done so already.

Wait, wait, and wait

Well it seems that it will be the middle of August until the new jail is open. At Tuesday’s Quorum Court meeting Jail Administrator Bobby Brown brought a list of items that he says must be completed before work on resealing the floor can begin. This was the same issue that was raised at the last court meeting. But now nearly a month later the court gets a list?

Log Cabin reporter Stefanie Sampson reports Brown saying, "The key is, it won't open until it's safe for our officers - bottom line." But as I recall in the last meeting the issues were mainly cosmetic in nature and had little to do with officer safety. In fact Brown said he had already taken a prisoner work crew over to the new facility to do some work.

Some of the more interesting comments that were made by the JP’s are those of JP Diana Kellar, JP Mark Bailey, JP Dan Thessing, and JP Jerry Park.

Speaking of the list of uncompleted items Bailey said,

"I just want to know which of these items are show-stoppers for the jail to be opened. I'm not worried about money. I'm focused on crossing the goal-line. In my opinion, it's been way too long".

Way too long indeed. But …

JP Diana Kellar said the process could not be rushed to get the project finished.
"At this point, we can cast blame. We can say things should be open, but the jail will be open when it's ready. The best is being done to get it completed. We can't rush people to get it done," Kellar said

We’d have to disagree, we think the county should make the contractors work around the clock at their expense to finish the job as quickly as possible. Now say this project was a building going up in the private sector and the owners were told the project would be complete last December, do you think that the owners would be hee-hawing around while their building was sitting idle?

Some JPs questioned why the non-essential items could not wait to be fixed until after inmates begin to occupy the jail.

Park responded, "If you have workers in the jail after inmates are already occupying the areas, you have potential problems."

Now our question is if this were true then how does the current jail manage to get things fixed when they break? Doesn’t the county pay for plumbers and other professional repair services when they need them? It would seem to us that some non-violent inmates could be house there in areas that need little work. Although the smell of the new floor sealant might get pretty bad.

Speaking of the new floor coating, could it be applied in those finished areas while work is being done on others? After all according to Mike Callahan of Taggart Foster Currence Gray Architects Inc. of North Little Rock the new jail is ready for inmates.

According to Callahan, who is project manager, the jail already belongs to the county. He said the county has owned the jail since the certificate of substantial completion was presented and signed March 6. He said at that time, the jail was also certified for occupancy.

"This is a huge project with a lot of complex facilities. There are going to be a few problems after it opens. We could go through this list and fix everything, and get everyone moved in and find 10 more items later," Callahan said.

If this is so and the jail has been certified as ready for inmates then what’s the hold up. Could part of the problem be as JP Thessing suggests a lack of communication.

JP Dan Thessing said he wants to make sure all parties are working expeditiously to get the project completed.

"I want to see the right hand talking to the left hand and see inventive people working to get this done," Thessing said.

Any way you look at it this project has become a nightmare for all involved…
That includes us tax payers too…

The Power of the People

The Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office has had some major problems over the past few years. Leadership and Management problems have left the department lacking in many areas. Among some of the worst have been the egregious acts of theft and fraud investigators found within the department. However prosecutors did not charge anyone with a crime and as a result over $13,000 in misspent money will not be recovered.

In Arkansas we have statues and constitutional provisions that prohibit the use of public money for private purposes but the penalties for these violations, when enforced, are only removal from office and a small fine. This simply does not adequately protect our tax dollars; we need this situation to change; we need a law that makes the misuse of public funds a crime.

In some states it is a felony to misuse public funds. The penalties for such violations are punishable by fines, restitution, loss of employment, and jail time. In Idaho recent additions to their law added specific wording to include the misuse of government issued credit cards. California also has laws that make the misuse of public funds a felony. Why doesn’t Arkansas have a law against the misuse of public funds?

Recently we asked you, our readers, to contact your legislators and asked them to consider this idea and make this new law, we to have approached our legislators and it’s paid off. State Representative Preston Scroggin has had this proposal drafted into a bill that will be before the legislature in January.

The Bill, Draft MBM516, will amend Arkansas Criminal Code Title 5 to include a section that makes the misuse of public funds a crime with the top count being a Class B felony. Anyone convicted of this crime, should it become law, will face jail time if the value of the money misused is over $2500.

While this new legislation will not prevent the misuse of public funds it will however give prosecutors more to work with when prosecuting cases such as we have seen here in Faulkner County. It will also give would be violators less wiggle room in trying to side step the spending laws of Arkansas.

The battle has been won but the war is far from over. We need your continuing support by making sure our legislators, both new and old, vote for this legislation. In our area we have two Senate positions and one State Representative position in question. We need to ask the candidates in these races for their support and vote for the ones receptive to this bill.

Together we can make a difference; together we can change the law.