VAN BUREN -- The Crawford County Republican Committee has a message for voters: Just say no to two GOP candidates.
Committee members have recommended that county Republicans not vote for Franklin Wade Lewis for county judge and Bradley Michael Sanderson for sheriff because they have criminal records.
Lewis, 50, was convicted of patronizing a prostitute in Fort Smith in 2004 and 2009, and of possessing an instrument of crime in 2013, all misdemeanors. Sanderson was convicted of public sexual indecency in 2001, also a misdemeanor.
"These are not the kind of candidates we want representing the Republican Party," committee chairman Mark Shaffer said.
Shaffer said Friday that letters to both candidates and a news release regarding the committee's decision will be sent out, possibly as early as next week.
Bruce Coleman, former county Election Commission chairman and a member of the county Republican committee, said not recommending the candidates to voters is the strongest action the committee can take because it does not have the power to remove them from the ballot.
"People running for office should be reputable," Coleman said.
Lewis, who runs a small trucking company in Van Buren, said he is not proud of his criminal record but hopes voters will look at his ability, as a past owner of a construction business, to be able to meet a payroll and maintain county buildings and roads.
Lewis said he is upset that the committee took his $500 filing fee but won't recommend him as a candidate against his Republican opponent, Dennis Gilstrap, who had switched parties.
"He can't be a Democrat one day and a Republican the next," Lewis said.
Gilstrap, the longtime Crawford County Office of Emergency Management coordinator, said he filed for office as a Republican because he believes the party best reflects his views.
Contact information for Sanderson was not available Friday. His opponent, Sheriff Ron Brown, a Democrat, did not return a call seeking comment.
Crawford County Election Commission Chairman John Lyon said Friday that the commission received information about Lewis and Sanderson shortly after the filing period ended in November, raising concerns about their eligibility to run.
Lyon said the matter was turned over to Crawford County Prosecuting Attorney Marc McCune to check into, but by Friday, Lyon had not received a report from McCune.
McCune said Friday that he had turned the matter over to the Arkansas State Police to conduct a background check on the two candidates.
Once the state police submit their report, McCune said, he will turn it over to the Election Commission. At that point, he said, a voter who wanted to could challenge Lewis' or Sanderson's candidacies by filing suit in circuit court.
Arkansas Board of Election Commissioners Executive Director Justin Clay said only a circuit judge could order a person to be placed on or taken off a ballot.
The Arkansas Constitution determines when a person is ineligible to run for office, Clay said.
Article 5 Section 9 states: "No person hereafter convicted of embezzlement of public money, bribery, forgery or other infamous crime, shall be eligible to the General Assembly or capable of holding any office of trust or profit in the state."
Arkansas Statute Annotated 7-1-101 defines infamous crime as:
• Felony offenses.
• A misdemeanor theft of property offense.
• Abuse of office.
• Tampering.
• A misdemeanor offense in which the finder of fact was required to find, or the defendant to admit, an act of deceit, fraud or false statement.
Lewis said he researched the law before he filed as a candidate and determined that his past would not disqualify him from running for county judge.
Lewis was convicted of patronizing a prostitute in 2004 and in 2009 in Fort Smith District Court, according to court records.
After pleading guilty to the charge in 2004, he was fined $500 and ordered to perform 160 hours of community service. In the 2009 case, Lewis was convicted in a trial in District Court and served 10 days in the Sebastian County jail.
In September 2013, he was charged in Crawford County Circuit Court with first-degree forgery, a felony. Police reports say he and his wife, Sherri, used a counterfeit $20 at a Sonic drive-in restaurant. Sherri Lewis was charged with possessing an instrument of crime, a misdemeanor.
According to a search warrant affidavit, a Sonic employee took down the license number of the car, and it was registered to Sherri Lewis.
Officers went to the Lewises' home at 529 Thorman Lane in Van Buren, where they found the car parked, the affidavit said.
Officers searched trash bags outside the house and found another fake $20 bill with the same serial number as the bill that was used at the Sonic, the affidavit said. It said officers also found a counterfeit $10 bill and several blank sheets of paper cut to the dimensions of paper money.
In a search of the inside of the Lewises' home, officers found, among other things, computers, a printer and a fake $100 bill, the affidavit said.
Court records show that Lewis pleaded guilty in circuit court on July 23, 2014, to a reduced charge of misdemeanor possessing an instrument of crime. Imposition of a jail sentence was suspended for one year, he was fined $1,500 and was ordered to pay $150 in court costs, a $20 booking fee and to perform 30 hours of community service. A court document filed on Jan. 21, 2015, shows that he paid the fine and fees.
Sherri Lewis, 37, pleaded guilty to possessing an instrument of crime on July 18, 2014, and was given the same sentence as her husband.
Van Buren District Court records show that Sanderson pleaded no contest on June 14, 2001, to a misdemeanor charge of public sexual indecency that occurred on Oct. 31, 2000.
He was fined $330, served 10 days in the county jail and was ordered to have no contact with the woman named in the case.
A Section on 01/16/2016