The Arkansas Department of Human Services' chief of legislative affairs will leave next month for a job with a firm that lobbies the Legislature on behalf of several companies that do business with the department.
Kelley Linck, a former state lawmaker from Flippin, will step down from his job with the department on Oct. 4 to join Mullenix & Associates of Little Rock.
According to a registration form filed Aug. 30 with the secretary of state, the firm's clients that serve Medicaid recipients include Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which provides coverage under the Arkansas Works program; Managed Care of North America, which provides dental benefits; and Superior Senior Care, which provides home-based services.
"For decades, Mullenix & Associates has expanded to successfully meet our clients' needs," co-founder Ted Mullenix said in a news release. "With his experience and unique perspective, Kelley will complement our firm's existing strengths."
In a letter on Tuesday, department chief counsel David Sterling told Linck that he should avoid involvement with any matters involving Mullenix clients during his remaining time with the department.
Sterling also referred to a portion of Arkansas Code Annotated 19-11-709 prohibiting a partner of a state employee from acting "as a principal or as an agent for anyone other than the state" in connection with any matter in which the employee participates "personally and substantially."
The law also prohibits former employees and partners of former employees from being involved as a "principal or agent for anyone other than the state" regarding any state contract in which that employee provided "decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, rendering of advice, investigation, or otherwise while an employee."
The law also bars former state employees for one year from acting for a private company in connection with contracts that were within the person's "official responsibility" while employed by the state.
Linck said he'll follow legal advice on any restrictions on his work with the lobbying firm.
"When I get to Mullenix, I will sit down and have that discussion," he said.
Linck in 2016 stepped down as a Republican member of the House of Representatives and chairman of the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor to become the Human Services Department's first chief of legislative and intergovernmental affairs.
"Kelley stepped in at a time when we needed to improve our relationship with and responsiveness to the Legislature, and I am eternally grateful for the time he's spent here and his leadership," department Secretary Cindy Gillespie said in a news release. "Through his office, we have worked hard to more quickly provide elected officials with the information and answers they need to do their jobs."
Linck, 55, said in the release that after the end of this year's legislative session, it's "a good time for me to move on to the next chapter."
"I really hate leaving the people there. It's just the right time," he said in an interview.
According to the state's transparency website, Linck's annual salary with the state was $127,100.
The Human Services Department also announced that Jerry Sharum, who had been the department's general counsel, took over Monday as the new director of the department's Division of Provider Services and Quality Assurance.
The division inspects, certifies and licenses nursing homes and other health care providers that serve Medicaid recipients; trains providers on state regulations; and studies the workforce needs of the department and providers.
Sharum, whose annual salary was set at $108,110, replaced Craig Cloud, who left the department to become executive vice president over strategy and planning at Friendship Community Care, a Russellville organization that serves people with developmental disabilities and mental illness. Cloud's last day at the department was last Friday.
"Jerry is extraordinarily smart and an extremely hard-worker who has shown that he can get the job done and get it done well," Gillespie said in a news release. "He knows DHS, understands policy, and is comfortable working with federal officials and stakeholders, all of which are incredibly important in this role."
Martha Deaver, president of Arkansas Advocates for Nursing Home Residents, said in a statement that her group will be "vigilant" in making sure Sharum protects the state's most vulnerable residents.
"The exorbitant amount of abuse and neglect occurring daily throughout the state is unacceptable," Deaver said. "All long-term care residents not only deserve but have a right to receive competent care."
Metro on 09/13/2019