Lands chief’s car use referred to prosecutor

LITTLE ROCK — State auditors have referred state Land Commissioner Mark Wilcox’s personal use of state vehicles to the Pulaski County prosecutor for review.

The auditors, who reported their findings to the Legislature this week, also said that records indicate the land commissioner’s office cannot account for $4,558 in public funds.

Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said detectives at his agency are investigating the possible theft of funds related to the unaccounted-for money.

Deputy Legislative Auditor Charles Fiser said he’s forwarded the findings related to Wilcox’s personal use of two state vehicles on his farm to Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley.

“He can take a good look at it and review it due to the possible misuse of public funds,” Fiser said.

A May 30 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article revealed that Wilcox kept a state owned Chevrolet Silverado pickup at his farm in Greenbrier and that he drove a state-owned 2008 Toyota Sequoia to commute to Little Rock during the workweek.

Wilcox later said he used his own funds to equip the truck with a gooseneck hitch and a toolbox. He said he plans to take the toolbox with him when he leaves office at the end of the month, but leave the hitch.

During the summer, the Democrat-Gazette also reported that the state-owned pickup had been involved in a hit-and-run accident in 2008 while Wilcox’s wife was driving. In August, Wilcox reimbursed the state for the cost of repairing a private vehicle damaged in that accident. He wrote a personal check for $995.07 to pay back his office’s maintenance and operations fund, which had covered the repair cost two years ago.

State auditors found that in a two-year period ending June 20, 2010, Wilcox purchased fuel for the two vehicles totaling $11,889 and that during the same period, the vehicles were used to drive 71,409 miles.

Jegley wasn’t available for comment Thursday.

The missing $4,558 was discovered during an internal review by the land commissioner’s office, when officials found three receipts indicating money collected hadn’t been deposited. The probe traced the missing funds to a former employee who resigned abruptly in April 2009.

Land commission officials declined to name the former employee, but Fiser said he believes the suspect was a lower-level worker.

Further newspaper coverage in the summer and fall detailed how some elected officials hadn’t paid income taxes on the personal use of their state vehicles. Since then, Wilcox, state Treasurer Martha Shoffner, Auditor Jim Wood and Secretary of State Charlie Daniels have said they will pay taxes and back-taxes for vehicle use.

Wilcox lost the Democratic nomination for secretary of state. He was elected land commissioner in 2002 and has reached the constitutional limit of two four-year terms on the office.

As land commissioner, Wilcox oversees a staff that manages the disposition of tax-delinquent property and helps collect taxes that go to fund public schools and county governments. The office also preserves certain historical records, and issues permits and leases for natural resources on some state owned lands.