State Rep. John Burris, R-Harrison, will receive a public letter of caution from the state Ethics Commission for violating ethics law by failing to disclose certain information on his personal financial-disclosure reports, according to commission records released Thursday.
In a settlement of ethics complaints filed by Edward George Geier of Harrison and David Singer of White Hall, Burris agreed with the commission's finding that he unintentionally violated state law by not disclosing his state retirement account on his 2010 personal financial-disclosure report and his personal checking account on his 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 reports.
Burris, who is chairman of the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee, signed the settlement Thursday.
He's already filed amendments to his personal financial-disclosure reports -- which are called Statements of Financial Interest -- to disclose the information, commission Director Graham Sloan wrote in a letter dated Aug. 18 to Burris.
In late May, Burris derided Geier's wide-ranging ethics complaint against him as "an election day gimmick." At that time, Burris' Republican opponent -- businessman Scott Flippo of Mountain Home -- said the complaint wasn't part of his campaign.
Flippo subsequently defeated Burris in a runoff; he faces no opponent in November.
Burris said Thursday that he's pleased that commission dismissed the major parts of Geier's complaint relating to his residency and legislative expenses. Burris, who owns a home in Harrison, has said he purchased a home in Little Rock on Feb. 28 as an investment property to rent out.
No fine was levied.
Under state law, the Ethics Commission may fine candidates up to $2,000 for a violation and also issue a public letter of caution, reprimand or warning.
Sloan said there was no evidence that Burris' receipt of reimbursements of mileage to attend legislative meetings in Little Rock or for officeholder expenses such as rent for home office space in Harrison and the third-party payments made to his father for clerical services constituted prohibited "special privileges or exemptions" under state law.
The commission also determined that there was not any evidence that the home loan Burris obtained from Centennial Bank violated these prohibitions, Sloan said.
House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot, who appointed Burris as a committee chairman in 2013, is a regional bank president for Centennial Bank. Burris has said Carter didn't play a role in securing a mortgage for him.
Sloan said the evidence showed the reason that Burris qualified for the bank loan was based on bank policy.
"The benefit of obtaining the bank loan in question would have been the same benefit extended to any other loan applicant with similar loan-to-value, debt-to-income, and credit history or score as your own," Sloan wrote in his letter to Burris.
Sloan said the evidence showed that Burris did not receive any particular benefit or advantage over any of the other representatives with respect to officeholder-related reimbursements. The reimbursements that Burris received for office expenses didn't exceed the maximum amounts authorized by state law, Sloan said.
As the chairman of one of the Legislature's busiest committees, Burris collected the largest amount of expense payments among state lawmakers in 2013. He was reimbursed $57,504 last year, including $10,390 for office-related expenses, according to state records.
Geier called Burris' punishment "kind of light," adding, "That's not even a slap on the wrist."
Singer, who is a customer relations manager for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, filed a complaint dated June 2 against Burris because, he said, "Elected officials need to be held to a higher level of transparency."
He said he hopes Burris will avoid making similar mistakes in the future.
Metro on 08/29/2014