LITTLE ROCK — Republican gubernatorial nominee Jim Keet on Monday called for the state to sell the airplane the Arkansas State Police bought for $4 million in 2007 and which is used to transport the governor and investigate crimes.
The Legislature approved the purchase in 2007 upon urging by Gov. Mike Beebe after state police said it would cost too much to refurbish their old airplane.
Keet is challenging Beebe, a Democrat, in the Nov. 2 general election.
“We do not need an airplane for state-authorized travel,” Keet said. “We can lease an airplane far less expensively and we don’t have to pay for hangars, pilots, maintenance and inspections. It would just be much more efficient.”
Beebe spokesman Anne Hughes said “this is just another attempt to grab headlines by Mr. Keet. This is the state police plane; it is not a governor’s office plane.”
State police spokesman Bill Sadler said the plane has helped the state police investigate deaths. He gave two examples from this year: flying evidence quickly from the shooting of two West Memphis police officers and flying to Washington state to help interview a suspect of a murder in Cross County.
“From the governor’sperspective, the executive protection detail is much more comfortable knowing he is on that particular aircraft,” Sadler said. “They know who has worked on the aircraft and who is flying the aircraft. It puts them at ease much more so than walking into something they don’t know anything about.”
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Republican, used the state police plane frequently, including for political trips. Beebe said when the state bought the plane that it would only be used for state purposes and only when necessary.
Keet said he had no criticism of the use of the plane by either Beebe or Huckabee.
“I’m looking to the future,” Keet said. “I’m telling you what the Keet administration will do.”
He estimated it would cost about $2,500 an hour to lease an airplane but that it’s possible the cost could be as low as $1,000 an hour.
He said the state could sell the airplane for between $3.4 million and $3.9 million.
The plane is a 2007 model King Air 200 turboprop twinengine.
At the time, state police estimated it would cost $800,000 to fix the old plane, which was a 1982 King Air.
Huckabee flew more than 1,500 hours on the plane, including flying to political functions such as the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City. State aircraft also took him several times to Daisy in Pike County, where he had a lake house. Huckabee, now a Fox News talk show host, has donated to Keet’s campaign.
Records show that Beebe has used this plane less than Huckabee used the previous one. For instance, in 2007, Beebe flew out of state twice compared with Huckabee’s 21 times in 2006.
When unveiling the new plane, state police said that the plane’s best attribute is that it buys the governor time because it can be ready quickly and easily transport the governor’s security detail. The state police by law must provide security to the governor.
State police have also said that leasing a plane wasn’t considered an option because the plane must be used at odd hours sometimes, including for law-enforcement purposes, not just to transport the governor.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 07/27/2010