Truck Purchase Questioned

Justices Of The Peace Concerned Procedures Not Followed

— Benton County’s justices of the peace raised questions Tuesday about the purchase of a truck by the Sheriff’s Office.

At A Glance

Other Business

The Benton County Quorum Court’s Committee of 13 forwarded these items on to the full Quorum Court for consideration at its Dec. 20 meeting:

• A resolution declaring a vacancy in the office of Justice of the Peace, District 2, due to the resignation of Justice of the Peace Frank Winscott.

• An ordinance appropriating $15,000 to pay for postage used by the Benton County Clerk’s Office.

• An ordinance appropriating $23,177 for payroll for the Benton County Coroner’s Office.

• An ordinance establishing Benton County’s annual operating budget for 2013.

• An ordinance transferring $5,117 from machinery and equipment to small equipment in Benton County Circuit Court, Division 5, to purchase a new copier.

• An ordinance transferring $500,000 from the General Fund to the Road Fund to account for transfers approved through out the year.

• An ordinance to transfer $182,000 to purchase a new financial management system for the Accounting/Human Resources Department and Benton County Treasurer’s Office.

Source: Staff Report

The justices of the peace, meeting as the Committee of 13, were told the Sheriff’s Office was asking the Quorum Court to transfer $5,850 from a line item in the County Jail budget to a line item in the Sheriff’s Office budget to pay for a new truck. Sarah Daniels, the county’s comptroller, said she was told the truck was bought for Sheriff-elect Kelley Cradduck to drive while he is making the transition to sheriff. The request first came before the Quorum Court’s Finance Committee and the justices of the peace had asked Sheriff Keith Ferguson or a representative attend Tuesday’s Committee of 13 meeting to answer questions about the purchase.

“I’ll remind you the truck has already been driven off the lot,” said Justice of the Peace Tom Allen.

Daniels said county policies call for elected officials to complete a purchase order, which goes to her office before the money can be spent.

“In this case, there was no purchase order requested on the front end,” Daniels said. “I was brought an invoice.”

Several justices of the peace said they wanted answers to their questions about how the truck could be bought outside the normal policies and procedures.

“It’s not a question of how fancy a truck it is,” said Justice of the Peace Dan Douglas. “It’s just breaking protocol and not getting approval before you do something. This is bad form.”

“This stinks, in my opinion,” Douglas said.

Justice of the Peace Joel Jones said he is troubled by the purchase of the truck without obtaining approval.

“I don’t think any of us would’ve had a problem with it if they had come to us in Finance,” Jones said. “I have a real problem with them just spending money and getting an item like this which is nowhere in the budget.”

Cradduck said Tuesday the sheriff’s office had handled the transaction and he was unaware of any questions about the process.

“I did not know the process by which they did it,” Cradduck said of the purchase. “I was told they would take care of it and they did.”

Ferguson said he had been asked to attend Tuesday’s meeting, but was unable to due to an emergency. He said the money for the purchase is in his budget and it is his decision on how that money will be spent.

“I’ve tried to follow the proper procedures for the 10 years I’ve been in office,” Ferguson said. “As far as I know, the procedure was followed.”

“The Quorum Court provided me with this budget,” Ferguson said. “It’s up to me how it’s spent. I didn’t think I had to ask for their permission.”

Ferguson said if the justices of the peace ask, someone from the Sheriff’s Office will attend the Dec. 20 Quorum Court meeting to answer questions about the purchase.

The ordinance transferring the money was forwarded to the Quorum Court, with the proviso that someone be available to answer questions, by a vote of 12-1, with Allen voting against the motion. Allen said the Quorum Court should consider withholding approval of the purchase if the justices of the peace aren’t satisfied.

“Just because of the way it transpired, we need to have a representative of the Sheriff’s Office here to address us as to why the truck was purchased the way it was,” Allen said. “There may be a very good reason. If there is we need to hear it.”

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