Attorney to waive claim to back pay

He went on leave for rehabilitation

— The case of Faulkner County’s former civil attorney’s paid leave of absence for drug and-alcohol rehabilitation in Malibu, Calif., took another turn Monday.

Stephan Hawks, who resigned June 15 amid questions about whether the county was right to pay Hawks under its own policies, is writing a letter waiving back pay, County Administrator Jeff Johnston said.

“I have spoken to Mr. Hawks, and he is currently writing a letter to release the county for back pay that is due him should he sue the county,” Johnston wrote in an e-mail interview.

Asked whether Hawks, Johnston or County Judge Preston Scroggin raised the back-pay issue, Johnston said, “I don’t remember.”

It’s unclear how much back pay Hawks, who was a salaried employee making $104,000 a year, believes he is due.

Hawks did not answer his cell phone, and a person answering the phone he previously used in Malibu said Hawks was not there “right now” but agreed to take a message.

Asked how much Hawks was due, Johnston replied, “I have no clue.” He said he also had “no clue” when Hawks would send the letter.

When an employee leaves the county, he is paid for any vacation time due, Johnston said.

The back-pay issue came two days after Joe Don Winningham, who briefly served as county attorney at no charge, released an opinion saying that based on the county’s personnel manual, Hawks could not have been paid under family or sick leave during the California trip.

Scroggin, a Democrat, had said he gave Hawks the time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act and that paying Hawks was the right thing to do.

But Winningham also wrote that the county judge’s office had informed him that “Hawks was never afforded any vacation or sick time pursuant to the [personnel manual]. It is my opinion that because Mr.Hawks was an employee subject to the [manual], he is entitled to the benefits of a county employee, including the accrual of vacation leave.”

Hawks had said in an e-mail to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette earlier this month that he did not “technically ... accrue vacation or sick time.”

Further complicating the situation, Johnston said Hawks “was allowed to take time [off] as needed” - just as the county judge believes the coroner can. But Johnston said there are “no documents on how much or when he [Hawks] took time.”

Yet Johnston said Hawks did take a week’s “vacation over spring break with his family.”

According to Winningham’s opinion, Hawks was entitled to eight paid vacation hours per month, with a maximum of 240 hours of accumulated annual leave under the personnel manual. Winningham had resigned Friday but released the opinion Saturday.

Winningham said Scroggin “had the discretion to allow Mr. Hawks to work ... outside of the office and to continue to receive compensation.”

Based on conversations with the county judge’s office, Winningham wrote, it was his understanding that “Hawks continued to perform work for Faulkner County while he was not physically present in the office.”

It’s also now unclear exactly how long Hawks was on leave.

Winningham’s opinion indicated Hawks was gone about seven weeks.

But Hawks has said he checked into the Malibu facility April 11 and left 36 or 37 days later. During his final 3 1/2 weeks in California after leaving the facility, Hawks said, he continued to see a therapist in California and attended group meetings.

The Democrat-Gazette also learned Monday that Hawks was paid $1,000 per month for serving as city court judge in the small town of Damascus from January 2009 through December 2011.

Court there was held each third Thursday of the month. The sessions generally ran from 2 to 5 p.m.

Further, the Vilonia city court said Hawks also had worked there as a judge during two time periods for a total of about one year. Information was unavailable on when he served there and what he made. Some but not all of the Vilonia sessions are at night.

Asked about the court work, Johnston said, “When he was working as judge, he was considered as off the clock if that helps. If he were given vacation time, he would have had to use it to be judge.”

Faulkner County Justice of the Peace Steve Goode, RVilonia, said Monday that in light of Winningham’s opinion, the question now is whether Hawks had “that much vacation to take.”

Asked if he thought Hawks was due any back pay, Goode said, “I wouldn’t know about that without having access to his records.”

Goode said he thought David Hogue, the interim county attorney on a contractual basis, should address that issue.

“Until we can get the taxpayers of Faulkner County an answer that is satisfying to them ... I have to ... continue to ask the question” of whether the county was right to pay Hawks and Hogue, who filled in for Hawks, at the same time, Goode said.

“It’s not a personal question. It’s not an R [Republican] versus D [Democrat] question. It’s a good-government question,” Goode said.

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 06/26/2012

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