LITTLE ROCK — For 10 years the Arkansas Claims Commission has been faced with deciding whether to reimburse a dead man.
George H. Thorne filed a claim against the state in 1992 for nearly $1,500 he said was stolen from him while he was in state prison.
He died March 29, 2000, shortly after his sentence was commuted by then-Gov. Mike Huckabee.
But the case of George Thorne and three other decades-old cases remain on the commission’s docket.
No one is pursuing these claims.
Each case file ends either with a notation saying the case “is under consideration” or asking for more information from the claimant.
One includes a letter asking that the case be dismissed.
Arkansans cannot sue their state in the state’s courts. Article 5, Section 20 of the Constitution states: “The State of Arkansas shall never be made defendant in any of her courts.” The provision is known as sovereign immunity.
But people may file with the Claims Commission to be compensated when the state has wronged them.
The five-member commission hears claims against the state for such things as property damage, personal injury, breach of contract and refunds. It makes a recommendation to the state General Assembly on whether to award money to compensate the claimants.
Thorne thought he had been wronged when inmates, he maintained, stole $1,497.65 worth of items such as cigarettes, food and jewelry from him. He argued in his claim that it was the state’s responsibility to protect his valuables while he was in prison.
In 1992, Thorne’s case was placed “under advisement” at the commission after he filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Correction. This means the case will be considered, but doesn’t set any deadline for a decision.
Thorne filed six federal lawsuits against department employees between 1992 and 1996 claiming his civil rights had been violated. All six were dismissed by December 1996.
Huckabee pardoned Thorne in 1999 after he had served nearly 19 years in prison on a life sentence for aggravated robbery. He died in 2000 in North Little Rock, but the claims case lingers.
After being informed last week by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that Thorne had died, Claims Commission Director Norman Hodges said he will speak with the Department of Correction attorney and Claims Commission members about removing Thorne’s case from the docket.
“I didn’t know that. I’ve learned something we can take action on now and he can just disappear off that list,” Hodges said. “We can dismiss his claim because we probably won’t be hearing from him.”
He said it is up to the claimant or state agency to ask for a case to be removed from the docket. He said it was up to Thorne to either resume his claim or have it dismissed when the federal cases were resolved.
Hodges said occasionally claimants move or change phone numbers, which makes it difficult for the commission to pursue the claim; he said that has happened in the cases of two of the other decades-old claims.
“They just sort of went off the grid somewhere,” he said.
The longest-standing claim - it’s been there 26 years - is that of Ivory J. Clinkscale, who also was a prison inmate when he filed his claim for $375.
The last document in his file is a letter from the state’s claims coordinator asking that the case be dismissed.
Clinkscale was sentenced to 20 years in prison for theft by receiving. He was paroled in August 1987.
Clinkscale contended in 1984 that he was denied medical care after getting a hernia when a pallet of cabinets fell on him at a work-release job site. He said doctors told himthat the state couldn’t afford surgery to fix his hernia. At that time medical care for inmates was provided by Health Management Associates.
The Department of Correction argued that because a nongovernmental medical group was contracted to provide medical service at the time, the commission had no power to decide a claim made against an organization not controlled by the state.
The most recent document in the commission file on Clinkscale is a March 1990 letter from Diann Duty, the case coordinator, asking for the case to be dismissed because his parole officer said Clinkscale hadn’t reported in on time.
It is unclear whether the commission took any action on her request.
But Department of Correction records show he successfully completed parole in April 1994.
A department researcher said the state no longer has records on parole violations from that time, but he said Clinkscale’s record does not show that he ever failed to report to his parole officer.
“But he never provided us any place to contact him,” said Hodges. “We try to do the best that we can but there is only so much you can do if you haven’t been given information as to where to locate them.”
Department of Correction spokesman Dina Tyler said the department’s attorneys will probably ask that the cases be removed from the docket.
“If neither of those are going to go anywhere, it would make sense that they come off,” she said.
The third old claim is that of Jackie S. Van Dyke, who is the only person on the list who was not a prison inmate.
In 1992, Van Dyke reported that a foster child ran away from her home and stole clothing and jewelry. She claimed that the state should reimburse her for the missing items.
The most recent information in her case file is a letter to Van Dyke rescheduling her hearing for September 1992.
A review of the commission hearing from that day shows that her claim was put on hold until she presented a copy of her insurance policy to show whether the items were covered by the policy.
The Department of Human Services attorney had admitted the state’s liability in the event the theft was not covered by insurance.
Department of Human Services chief counsel Breck Hopkins, who was deputy counsel at the time, said the department closed the case in 1996. He could not remember why the case was closed.
Hopkins said the department will now ask that Van Dyke’s case be removed from the claims commission docket.
Hodges said the departments receive the docket monthly and it is their responsibility to identify claims that are no longer active.
Johnny G. Witham, a fourth longtime claimant, still is in prison serving a life sentence for first-degree murder. He did not respond to an interview request.
In 1985, Witham claimed that he was denied hearing aids by the state. He said dizziness caused by his hearing loss led him to accidentally chop off part of his left thumb with an ax.
He asked for $5,000 for the loss of his thumb. The last piece of information in the file is a 1987 letter to Witham that says his claim is “under advisement” and that he will be alerted when a decision is reached.
“Witham’s kind of the odd one of those, but again, he’s not contacted us either,” Hodges said.
Hodges said the case is unusual because if the commission asks for more time to consider a claim they only take a month or so to decide.
“We try to remain as current as we can,” Hodges said.
Hodges said the number of claims cases put before the commission annually prohibits it from following up on cases that are not being pursued by attorneys, claimants or state agencies.
In the 2010 fiscal year the commission resolved 1,002 claims. An additional 149 were denied or dismissed.
Between fiscal year 2005 and fiscal year 2010, the commission resolved 5,679 claims.
Hodges said there is no time limit to how long a claim can be inactive before it is removed from the docket.
“We haven’t done that, I certainly guess we could, it’s just a matter that we haven’t,” Hodges said.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 08/02/2010