2 agree panel staff has evidence Darr violated state’s ethics rules

The Arkansas Ethics Commission staff reported it found sufficient evidence for the commission to rule that Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Darr violated various state ethics laws and regulations.

The Arkansas Ethics Commission staff reported it found sufficient evidence for the commission to rule that Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Darr violated various state ethics laws and regulations.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

The Arkansas Ethics Commission staff reported Wednesday that it found sufficient evidence for the commission to rule that Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Darr violated various state ethics laws and regulations. On that much a lawyer for Darr and a blogger who filed an ethics complaint against Darr can agree.

However, they disagree on whether Darr improperly spent more than $44,000 in campaign and taxpayer dollars, or merely “wrongly disclosed” his use of campaign funds on his campaign-finance reports.

Liberal blogger and attorney Matt Campbell said Wednesday that - based on the commission staff’s report - Darr improperly used $44,683.10 in campaign and taxpayer funds. He said that includes Darr’s personal use of $31,500 in campaign funds, receipt of $6,000 in individual campaign contributions that exceed state law, charging more than $3,500 in personal purchases on a state credit card and receiving improper state travel reimbursements of more than $3,500.

Campbell said that in a private meeting with the commission, Darr “apologized to the people of Arkansas for his mistakes, thanked me for the report, regardless of the motivation, and said he’s looking forward to reimbursing and just kind of moving forward in terms of transparency.”

Campbell made those remarks to reporters after he, Darr and Darr’s attorney former state Rep. Dan Greenberg met with four commissioners and their staff members for about 30 minutes. The commission called the private meeting to determine whether probable cause existed for the finding that Darr violated state ethics laws.

Commissioner William Bird of North Little Rock said he recused himself from the meeting because Darr appointed him to the commission in 2011.

The spending in question occurred during Darr’s 2010 campaign for lieutenant governor and continued after he took office, the ethics complaint says.

After Wednesday’s meeting, Darr said that he won’t resign as lieutenant governor, he doesn’t know whether he will run for re-election next year and he’ll comment later on this ethics case.

Greenberg said it’s “more appropriate” to describe Darr’s use of campaign funds as “wrongly disclosed” rather than improperly used. Darr raised funds to pay off his campaign debt. So when he used funds from his campaign account to pay, for example, for his gasoline, Darr wasn’t misappropriating the money, Greenberg said, he was simply paying himself back.

“I don’t think it is fair to say he improperly used campaign funds because that is money that was owed to him,” he said.

“That’s not to minimize the fact that he made mistakes in disclosure and telling the public what he did.”

As for how much Darr plans to pay back, Greenberg said Darr hasn’t determined that yet. Greenberg declined to give a rough estimate of what is owed.

“It’s a difficult situation because we haven’t completely calculated everything,” he said. “What we want to do is to get to a point where we and the Ethics Commission are on the same page regarding all that stuff. Once we agree on the problem, he will attempt to make full restitution.

“Most of the money that he disclosed improperly was his to use, so I don’t think it is an especially large amount of money” that Darr will pay back in restitution, said Greenberg.

Commissioners Barrington Minix of Little Rock, Anne Sue Bray of Benton, Robert McCormack of Conway and Sharon Trusty of Russellville didn’t take public action Wednesday on Campbell’s complaint against Darr of Springdale.

Asked whether the commission decided that there is probable cause that Darr violated state ethics laws and regulations, commission Executive Director Graham Sloan said that under the state’s ethics laws, he can’t even confirm that there is an ethics complaint against Darr, and “there is not any final information about a case until it is over.”

If the commission finds that there is probable cause that Darr violated ethics regulations, Campbell said, he expects the commission to propose a settlement to Darr and for Darr to decide whether he will accept the commission’s terms.

After Wednesday’s meeting, state Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb of Benton said in a written statement that “To my understanding the Lieutenant Governor has apologized, he is taking responsibility, and he intends to solve the problems that he has created in his reporting.”

State Democratic Party Chairman Vince Insalaco of North Little Rock said: “Today’s preliminary hearing on Darr’s misuse of campaign funds adds more evidence to the growing pile of his reckless and unethical spending.

“Mark Darr’s flippant attitude toward the law is offensive. If the potential violations are true, then he has misused more taxpayer and campaign funds than the majority of Arkansans make in a year,” Insalaco said in a written statement.

On Aug. 23, Campbell filed an ethics complaint against Darr after questioning several thousand dollars of Darr’s campaign expenses at gas stations, restaurants, clothing stores and for football tickets and other items.

On the same day, Darr filed an ethics complaint against himself and acknowledged that there were problems with his campaign-finance reports, though he said he “had no malice intent.” The commission later consolidated Campbell’s and Darr’s ethics complaints into one case.

The lieutenant governor announced the next week that he was abandoning his bid forthe Republican nomination in the 4th Congressional District.

Darr, a former owner of a pizza business, has been the state’s lieutenant governor since January 2011.

The lieutenant governor’s job is considered part time, and the duties are primarily to preside over the state Senate when it’s in session each year and to serve as acting governor when the governor is out of state. The position’s annual salary is $41,896.

The Ethics Commission’s private meeting on the ethics complaints came after a state auditor revealed last Thursday that - based on a review of travel expenses between January 2011 and September 2013 - Darr received $9,298 in improper mileage reimbursements from the state for more than 22,000 personal vehicle miles.

Darr’s office also improperly used $205 in state funds for Darr’s lodging in Little Rock on two occasions, wrongly reimbursed Darr $169 for mileage in excess of the cost of coach-class airfare and incorrectly reimbursed $164 to former employee Chris Powell, who traveled from Little Rock to Springdale to drive for Darr, according to Deputy Legislative Auditor Jon Moore.

Auditors recommended that Darr reimburse $9,836 to the state, and Darr said last Thursday that he would repay that money as soon as possible.

As of Wednesday morning, Darr had not repaid the money. Darr is making arrangements to do so, his spokesman Amber Pool said Wednesday.

Legislative auditors also reported finding that Darr made $2,339 in personal purchases on a state credit card and later paid $1,2002 of that amount. Also, Moore said Darr submitted a copy of a check dated July 1, 2012, for $1,137 to reimburse the state for the rest. Darr has said he submitted the check to the state auditor’s office but it was never processed through his bank.

The audit of Darr’s office has been sent to 6th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley, according to Legislative Auditor Roger Norman. The 6th District includes Pulaski and Perry counties.

Jegley said Thursday that he’s considering asking the Pulaski County Quorum Court to appropriate roughly $25,000 “if need be to convene a grand jury” to reviews allegations against state officials.

“I have got a lot of inquiries about [Darr] and other people, and I am not sure what the most efficient way is going to be of looking into anything, which may go beyond a simple speculation or inquiry point,” he said.

“I want to make sure I got all options open right now, and we will go from there,” Jegley said.

“The Bookout case started a lot of inquiry … and the Darr situation has stirred up some more,” he said.

“I am not saying anybody has committed any crimes or anything. I just want to be in a position that people can be assured it is not being ignored if it deserves to be looked at,” Jegley said.

In August, state Sen. Paul Bookout, D-Jonesboro, resigned after the Ethics Commission fined him $8,000 for four violations of state ethics law and for improperly spending more than $53,000 in campaign funds on personal expenditures. A special prosecutor was appointed to review the case.

In May, Democratic state Treasurer Martha Shoffner of Newport resigned from office after she was arrested by FBI agents at her Newport home.

She pleaded innocent to six counts of extortion, one count of attempted extortion and seven counts of accepting a bribe as an agent of state government. Her trial is set for March.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/19/2013