BENTONVILLE -- The Arkansas Ethics Commission has dismissed a complaint filed against sheriff candidate Shawn Holloway concerning a ride on the Sheriff's Office's helicopter.
The commission issued its written decision last week on the complaint filed by Terry Thurman, a Rogers resident. The April complaint said Holloway took the helicopter to his parents' farm and flew relatives around Benton County and to Beaver Lake for two to six hours.
Holloway is chief deputy for the Benton County Sheriff's Office and a candidate for sheriff in the Nov. 8 general election. He was serving as a major for the Sheriff's Office in January 2014 when the helicopter ride took place.
"I am pleased that the Arkansas Ethics Commission completely dismissed the baseless complaint made against me by a staunch supporter of former Sheriff Kelley Cradduck for something that happened more than 2½ years ago," Holloway said. "We were on a planned helicopter flight to inspect a new landing area near Summers when, about halfway through the routine flight, the pilot needed and agreed to take a minimal break to use the restroom on my parent's farm nearby."
Holloway said his father then accompanied them while they completed the remainder of the planned flight.
The commission voted 2-1 to dismiss the complaint, according to its letter. The commission found there was insufficient evidence to find that Holloway's actions constituted a special privilege or exemption as defined by Arkansas law.
Holloway and the pilot picked up his father and took him on a training flight around Benton County, according to the letter. The commission found evidence other civilians had been allowed to fly on the helicopter, and there was little deviation in the flight plan, according to the letter.
The letter states the pilot needed to land briefly, and Holloway's father's farm was a safe and convenient location.
"The Commission considered how law enforcement agencies permit citizens to ride along in patrol cars or vehicles and agreed with the pilot how my father's farm was a safe and convenient location for the pilot to land for a brief period of time," Holloway said. "The Commissioners ruled there to be insufficient evidence that anything I did constituted an ethics violation or special privilege."
Holloway won the Republican nomination for sheriff. He will face Glenn Latham, an independent candidate, in November.
Latham said he was aware of the complaint, but not the disposition of the case.
"Allowing a noncounty employee to ride in the helicopter is a liability and shouldn't have been allowed," Latham said. "The Ethics Commission decision aside, it's violation of county policy, and should have been handled by the county, which it apparently was not."
NW News on 09/20/2016