Legislators upheld a cash award to a farmer whose crops were damaged by a prison farmer, altered the cash award to the family of a woman who choked in state custody, and ordered a rehearing of a dispute between a roads contractor and the state's Highway Department.
The claims subcommittee of the Joint Budget Committee met late Monday afternoon to weigh in on 29 claims for compensation filed against the state, including complaints from state prisoners as well as that of a grandmother who said that the Department of Human Services botched an investigation of her granddaughter's well-being.
After a request from the Joint Budget Committee, the subcommittee reconsidered a dispute between the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department and a contractor, Memphis-based APAC Tennessee, which won a $745,770 claim in September from the commission only to have the claims subcommittee cut the award to $495,000.
The road construction company said they were unfairly penalized for delays in work on a 7-mile stretch of Interstate 55. The company said the state's own actions had led to the delays. The dispute was referred back to the state's claims commission.
The Joint Budget Committee also requested the subcommittee reconsider a 2013 finding from the claims commission that awarded $600,000 to the family of a woman with a mental disability who choked while staying at a state facility.
Last December, the subcommittee affirmed the Claims Commission's decision to award Brenda Mize's family $600,000 after her choking death in early 2013.
Mize, whose disabilities gave her a risk of choking, died after eating some food she took from the kitchen while unsupervised.
Her treatment plan required her to be supervised during meals to prevent her from choking.
On Monday, the subcommittee changed that amount to $450,000.
In other business, the subcommittee upheld a $29,831 award to a Jefferson County rice farmer who said a herbicide used on an adjacent Department of Corrections field damaged more than 40 acres of his crop.
Prison officials admitted that an inmate working in the field used a herbicide that harmed the property belonging to Brooks Minton, but argued it affected only a few acres of his property.
Legislators also denied payment to a prison laborer who hurt his arm in a machine when he disobeyed orders.
They also dismissed about 18 complaints that were appealed to them by prisoners after they were dismissed by the Claims Commission.
Metro on 03/03/2015