Lt. Gov. Mark Darr on Friday submitted a one-sentence-long letter of resignation, effective today, to Secretary of State Mark Martin.

The state Ethics Commission fined Darr $11,000, the largest penalty it’s ever given an elected official, and issued him a public letter of reprimand in December after citing him for multiple violations of state ethics laws and regulations.

Although the Springdale Republican’s post will be vacant for months, the four employees in the lieutenant governor’s office will continue to work there for now, Senate President Pro Tempore Michael Lamoureux, R-Russellville, said Friday afternoon.

He said he doesn’t know whether he has the legal authority to terminate them, and plans to meet with the Senate’s legal counsel, Steve Cook, and the four employees next week.

Facing the possibility of impeachment by the Republican-controlled Legislature after he declined calls by Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe and the state’s GOP-dominated congressional delegation to step down, Darr announced in a Jan. 10 news release his resignation, effective today. But he said the resignation was being submitted “to the people of Arkansas, not an elected official.”

That led Beebe and others to question whether it was a valid resignation.

With Darr’s submission of his resignation letter to the secretary of state’s office, “we think all official requirements have been met,” said Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample. “We’ll discuss next week where we go from here.”

House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot, and Lamoureux, who now is next in line to be governor, were listed at the bottom of Darr’s letter as recipients.

There is precedent for the letter Darr sent Friday.

In 1996, then-Democratic Gov. Jim Guy Tucker submitted his one-sentence resignation letter to Democratic Secretary of State Sharon Priest.

DeCample said Beebe still intends to sign legislation that would allow him not to have to a call a special election for lieutenant governor this year if the Legislature sends him such legislation in the fiscal session starting Feb. 10. Sixty-seven votes in the 100-member House and 24 votes in the 35-member Senate are required to introduce such a nonappropriation measure during the fiscal session.

House and Senate Democratic and Republican leaders have signaled their support for the measure to save the state the cost of a special election, which could be a few million dollars. In the November general election, Arkansas voters will elect a lieutenant governor to a new four-year term.

The lieutenant governor is paid $41,896 and his primary duties are to serve as acting governor when the governor is outside the state and preside over the state Senate when it is in session.

With no fanfare, Darr cleaned out his office during the previous week, said Darr spokesman Amber Pool.

She said Darr has no further comment beyond his letter to Martin that stated, “Effective February 1, 2014, I will resign from my position as the lieutenant governor of Arkansas.”

Pool said she doesn’t know about Darr’s plans. Darr, who is a former insurance agent and former pizzeria owner, could not be reached for comment Friday.

While Darr’s letter to Martin is dated Jan. 21, Martin spokesman Alex Reed said the secretary of state’s office received the letter at 3:30 p.m. Friday after being informed by Darr’s staff at noon that it would receive such a letter.He said the resignation letter was distributed by Martin’s office to the state’s other constitutional officers, including the governor.

According to the state’s transparency website, the four employees in the lieutenant governor’s office are Chief of Staff Bruce Campbell, who is paid $75,132 a year; director of governmental relations Josh Curtis, who is paid $51,564 a year; executive assistant Raeanne Gardner, who is paid $33,660 a year; and Pool, who is paid $57,564 a year.

Campbell formerly worked for the state Senate as a staff member and was the director of the Department of Rural Services under Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee.

There is precedent for keeping the lieutenant governor’s office staffed during an extended vacancy.

After Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller died in July 2006, his aides were allowed to continue working for the rest of his term, which ended in January 2007.

Lamoureux said in an interview Friday morning that he didn’t plan to make any changes with the lieutenant governor’s staff and would “just leave things the way they were.” He said Arkansas Democrat-Gazette editorial columnist John Brummett was the only person who told him that the office’s employees should be let go.

Asked what the office’s four employees do, Lamoureux said, “I don’t have a great familiarity with what they do.”

But he said, “They are there to serve the people of Arkansas. They aren’t there to serve Mark Darr. They have to be there in case they are needed. … They get requests and constituent calls.”

Lamoureux added, “We are trying to execute it with the least drama possible.”

Later in the day, he declined to rule out the possibility that Darr’s employees would be dismissed.

“Anything is possible,” he said. “I am not going to plan on doing anything other than meeting with [the office’s] staff and [Steve] Cook.”

While some people believe the lieutenant governor’s office should be abolished, “that’s not something I can do,” Lamoureux said. Voters would have to approve a constitutional amendment to eliminate the office.

Beebe will talk with legislative leaders and see how they want to handle the future of the lieutenant governor’s staff with the fiscal session approaching, DeCample said.

“They have the say because they authorize the funding first,” DeCample said.

Carter, the House speaker, could not be reached for comment Friday by telephone.

As for the future of the lieutenant governor’s office employees, Joint Budget Committee Co-Chairman Rep. Duncan Baird, R-Lowell, who is married to Campbell’s daughter, said he doesn’t want to be part of the legislative discussions about that.

“On that issue, I would rather other members drive that process and make a determination of how to move forward on that,” said Baird.

House Democratic leader Greg Leding of Fayetteville said he would hope that the actions of Darr wouldn’t cost the staff members their jobs. Legislators need to discuss whether the employees can be used productively “and not just to tend a vacant office,” he said.

Darr announced his resignation in January after he agreed on Dec. 30 to pay the $11,000 fine to the Ethics Commission for 11 violations of state ethics laws and regulations, including the personal use of more than $31,000 in campaign funds.

On Dec. 12, auditors the Legislative Audit Division said Darr received $9,298 in improper mileage reimbursements for more than 22,000 personal-vehicle miles and made personal purchases on a state-issued credit card for more than $2,500.

They recommended that Darr reimburse the state $9,836 for excess travel reimbursements and expenses, and Darr said at that time he planned to reimburse the state soon. Pool said she doesn’t know when that will be paid.

In addition, a state auditor Thursday told lawmakers that Darr had submitted a check, dated July 1, 2012, to reimburse the state for another $1,137 in expenses, but that the check had apparently been lost in the mail after being sent to U.S. Bank.

Peggy Gram, chief deputy for Democratic state Auditor Charlie Daniels, said Darr hasn’t submitted any additional checks in recent weeks but that Darr’s office contacted her Friday to seek an address to mail a check from Darr.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/01/2014