ROGERS -- Ben Lipscomb is not qualified to be the Rogers city attorney, nor should he be paid a salary and benefits, according to a motion to intervene filed Monday in U. S. District Court.
Brian Ferguson and Ellen Turner, through their attorneys Don Kendall and Susan Keller Kendall, state that Lipscomb lives in a house on Beaver Lake, and that he abdicated his position and is therefore not qualified to be the elected city attorney.
At A Glance
Ben Lipscomb Complaint
• Two Rogers residents filed a motion to intervene and a complaint in the Lipscomb lawsuit against the mayor and City Council.
• They claim Lipscomb is not a city resident and is therefore not qualified to serve as city attorney.
• They also want the city to stop paying Lipscomb.
Source: Staff Report
Don Kendall is also chairman of the Rogers Waterworks and Sewer Commission.
John Wilkerson, an Arkansas Municipal League attorney, made aldermen aware of the filing in a special meeting of the City Council on Monday afternoon.
Lipscomb filed a complaint against the mayor and aldermen on Nov. 5 stating he was being punished because the majority of his duties as city attorney were transferred to Chris Griffin, the city staff attorney. Lipscomb requested that his duties be reinstated.
The new complaint states Lipscomb claims his homestead tax credit on Dearhurst Road, near Beaver Lake, rather than the house he owns on Mockingbird Lane, and that he does not maintain water or sewer service inside the city. They note in the complaint Lipscomb uses the Mockingbird Lane address so he can vote in city elections.
Ferguson and Turner ask the court to find that Lipscomb is not qualified to serve as the city attorney, and that salary and benefits paid to Lipscomb are illegal.
"I'm a man of strong opinions, but this is the first time I've ever taken a stand like this," Ferguson said Monday.
Ferguson said he began to take an interest in the situation when Lipscomb used his city identification to enter a VIP tent at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion last summer to buy his wife a drink. An investigation by a special prosecutor found no criminal wrongdoing.
"An elected official that uses his or her position to gain something personal is morally corrupt," Ferguson said. "I don't know how all of this will turn out, but I will consider it a success if it gets more people talking and involved."
Lipscomb said Monday the action is another attempt to punish him.
"This is just another way to punish me for the failure of the special prosecutor to find that I didn't do anything wrong," Lipscomb said. He said he is also being punished because his wife filed a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act violation complaint against the city and Tom Jenkins, fire chief, with the federal Civil Rights court in Dallas.
Mayor Greg Hines said he had no response to Lipscomb's statement.
"There are several allegations and rumors going around about Mr. Lipscomb," Wilkerson told City Council members at a special meeting Monday. "I don't know if they are true, but we have heard that Lipscomb said he wouldn't come to work after the first of the year. We also been told Lipscomb said he wasn't going to come to City Council meetings anymore."
Wilkerson said he was told Lipscomb said he was going to spend the next two years "screwing the city."
"I don't know what to do. You can't take his pay from him, and I don't suggest you do. I guess we will find out what happens next month," Wilkerson told aldermen. Lipscomb's complaint is scheduled for a hearing on Jan. 20. The motion and complaint filed by Ferguson and Turner will likely be heard on the same date, according to Wilkerson.
With all of his legislative duties transferred to Griffin, the only job the Lipscomb had as city attorney was prosecuting misdemeanor cases in the Rogers District Court.
Lipscomb announced earlier that he would not offer plea bargains in District Court, people would have to plead guilty or have go to trial.
Nathan Smith, Benton County prosecuting attorney-elect, announced he would not give Lipscomb a prosecutor's commission. The only job responsibility Lipscomb has left is prosecution of city code violations.
Aldermen, during Monday's meeting, approved an amendment to the 2015 budget to transfer salaries and benefits of Nancy Love, legal assistant, and Jan Brown, office manager, to the administration budget. They will be transferred to the city staff attorney's office on Jan. 1.
Lipscomb is to move to an office on the second floor of City Hall.
NW News on 12/30/2014