Bisbee seeks payment of fees
County officials question amount of Hutchinson bill
Posted: July 20, 2010 at 4:17 a.m.
Benton County Judge Dave Bisbee wants the county to pay more than $73,000 in attorney fees for him.
This story is only available from the archives. Click here to contact the online desk.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 07/20/2010
(Advertisement)
« Previous Story
NEWTON COUNTY: Former judge pleads guilty
A former Newton County judge pleaded guilty Monday to mail fraud, admitting he cheated the county out of $69,140 while he was in office. Read »
Next Story »
Man pulls driver from river after wreck
Pierce Boyd was driving south on Interstate 430 in North Little Rock, just north of the Arkansas River, on Sunday evening when her cell phone rang. She reached over to the ... Read »
Comments
To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers. Please read our comment policy.
If he tendered a demand for the county to provide a defense up front but was refused, then perhaps he should be reimbursed the reasonable rate for defense of a case of this kind (which is a fraction of $73k).
If he did not request such indemnification/defense, then his petition should be denied outright.
It's troubling that a man who held a position of public trust would pull a stunt like this.
Posted by: JayTee
July 21, 2010 at 10:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
He hasn't learned a thing. Thinks he did nothing wrong. Now he wants the taxpayers to foot the bill for his legal expenses. He is asking the county..but folks that's US the taxpayers. He was a joke from the day he was elected
Posted by: forJustice
July 21, 2010 at 11:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Ok, if Van Stone has it out for you (for his judge buddies that have a beef with you) do you opt for a public defender at $110/hr or some moron in Springdale no one has heard of? I think I would hire someone that could find a way to fight someone with a vendetta against me. Said moron told us that he charges some flat rate for a misdemeanor, well how about for 7 misdemeanors for the same thing and what does he charge if there are 63 subpoenas for those 7 charges plus others from a separate issue that were only dropped after the arrest which was conveniently placed in the election cycle and is intended to get you removed from office? Of course, he couldn't get you past first base.
The county followed this idiot prosecutor on his personal bent and they should pay for the outcomes of his folly.
Oh yeah, this could have been handled by the ethics commission for a lot cheaper. This was personal, but paid for by the taxpayers.
Posted by: MadCoDoc
July 23, 2010 at 9:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
There are a lot of fine criminal defense attorneys who could have and would have handled this for a fraction of the figure charged by Hutchison, so I think your dichotomy is a false one.
The county may indeed need to pay, but market rates, which $73k is not.
Posted by: JayTee
July 24, 2010 at 8:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
No one knows for sure all of that billing covered. Until you actually work for an attorney and bill their cost, you would not think it is unreasonable. Which, it is not. Personally, it was a crying shame Van Stone did this in the first place and just a few months before the election. It was personal as far as I am concerned. Let Van Stone pay the charges since he brought this frivilous charges into a court room setting and forced the County Judge to defend his honor. The news never gets every story straight either.
Posted by: Arkietex
July 25, 2010 at 5:14 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
All he has to do is to show proof that the fees are justifiable and to what they were for.
Posted by: Apbacker
July 25, 2010 at 7:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Asa is not worth $660.00 per hour, or the $400.00 friend rate he charged old Bisbee. Asa had some big titles, but that don't make him that good of a lawyer.
Posted by: humble
July 26, 2010 at 11:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Why are we mad at Bisbee we can't blame him for going for the so called big name, it is Asa the 2 time loser that is screwing the people of benton county. What a piece of work he is. Van Stone should have now better than let it get this far. Someone should check phone records and see how many time those two talked, more than him and Bisbee I bet.
Posted by: popox6
July 27, 2010 at 7:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Registration is required to make comments. Click here to LOGIN.
You can register for FREE to post comments and receive alerts.