ROGERS — A Rogers District Court deputy clerk was firedearlier this month, accused with changing her boyfriend's court records, after she was suspended in connection with a bank deposit that disappeared from a court safe before it reappeared in a desk drawer.
According to documents obtained under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, detectives from the Rogers PoliceDepartment were called Aug. 28 to investigate the disappearance, and subsequent reappearance, of a $3,200 bank deposit at Rogers District Court. The envelope, containing cash and checks, should have been in a court safe - there was a deposit slip showing the envelope should have been there - but on Aug. 27, the deposit was gone. On Aug. 28, a Friday, it reappeared in a desk drawer, prompting Judge Brad Karren to ask for an investigation.
During that day, detectives interviewed seven employees, and six, according to the police report, pointed fingers in some way at Ashley Ladouceur, a deputy court clerk charged with preparing dockets. Three employees underwent polygraph testing.Ladouceur failed hers, according to the police report.
What followed remains somewhat unclear. Karren did not return a phone call to outline the path the court followed, but on Aug. 31, detective Brian Hanna noted in his report "that the case was no longer a criminal matterand that the situation was going to be handled administratively." He finished the entry by listing the case as closed.
Specifically siting the events of Aug. 27, Karren suspended Ladouceuron Sept. 2. That day, he also learned that at 1:53 p.m. June 17, Ladouceur had changed a court file for defendant Michael Kalberloh.
Kalberloh has seen his share of time in court, facing warrants, contempt-of-court charges and a charge of driving on a suspended driver's license, according to documents provided by the city. He is also, according to the termination letter,Ladouceur's boyfriend.
On Sept. 3, one day after Ladouceur's suspension, Karren terminated her employment.
"It has been determined by court information-technology personnel that you entered the court computer system : without authorization and possibly in violation of Arkansas Law A.C.A. 5-54-102, by deleting information regarding defendant Michael Kalberloh, : believed to beyour live-in boyfriend," Karren wrote in the letter of termination.
The letter does not indicate what information was deleted or if it was recovered. Without hearing from Karren, it is also unclear if charges are being pursued against Ladouceur. The Police Department has no record of any pending charges against the former court clerk, according to Cpl. Angel Murphy-Pearce.
News, Pages 1, 7 on 09/22/2009