Little Rock employed more sex offenders when it implemented its new hiring policy than officials originally disclosed, according to email correspondence and other documents obtained by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
A Democrat-Gazette analysis of the information also found that at least two of the employees were convicted of committing sexual offenses that occurred while they worked for the city.
Nine sex offenders currently work for the city -- eight in the Public Works Department and one in the Fleet Services Department -- and 11 worked for the city at the time the new policy went into effect June 10.
The policy banned employment of Level 3 and 4 offenders and restricted Level 1 and 2 offenders to certain positions that require a group environment and minimal contact with the public. It also prohibited any level offender from working in the city's Parks and Recreation Department or at the Little Rock Zoo -- areas frequented by children. Officials expanded that prohibition Friday to include employment at the Animal Services Division, since the Little Rock Animal Village often hosts children's birthday parties. Previously, there had been no restrictions on registered sex offenders.
Documents supplied to the newspaper in response to a records request under the state Freedom of Information Act earlier this month showed just eight offenders employed at the time of the policy. Officials accounted for the discrepancy by noting that one employee goes by a different name than what is listed on the public sex offender registry and by explaining that they were unaware of the status of two other employees, even though both are listed on the public registry.
Emails released under subsequent records requests refer to "issues" in the city's felony re-entry program, prompting the question of what prompted the policy change. City Manager Bruce Moore said no particular problem occurred and that he felt conducting sex-offender background checks on city employees was the "prudent thing to do." The city didn't previously require a background check for every position.
The sex offenders
The names of Level 1 sex offenders and those Level 2 offenders who don't meet the requirement for disclosure are not public under state law and are obtainable only by law enforcement officials. A Little Rock Police Department detective provided those names to the Human Resources Department, but the names were redacted when provided to the newspaper.
Sex offenders are rated by a state assessment program to determine the amount of community notification required. Under the law, only the names of Level 3 and 4 offenders, and Level 2 offenders who were adults at the time of the crime and whose victims were age 14 or younger, are available publicly and listed on the sex-offender registry.
The city employed two Level 1 offenders, seven Level 2 offenders and two Level 3 offenders at the time the policy went into effect June 10. Since the policy prohibits employment of higher level offenders, both Level 3 offenders were given two weeks' paid administrative leave and then fired.
Leonard Dickerson, a Level 3 offender convicted of rape in 1990, was a part-time employee who began working for the city last year. Level 3 Offender Thomas Lovelady, a full-time employee convicted of rape in 1995, had worked for the city since 2011. Lovelady is appealing his termination.
The other known city-employed sex offenders whose names are public are all rated Level 2 and will keep their jobs under the new policy. Officials disclosed the name of employee John Ring V late Monday and did not release his job title or hire date. Ring was convicted of incest of a minor, according to the sex-offender registry. The registry doesn't list the date of the conviction, which didn't turn up in a search of local court records.
Vincent Terrell Hatchett, a sanitation worker, has worked for the city since 2009. Court records show he was convicted of first-degree sexual abuse in 1993 at age 20. Hatchett, who goes by Jamar Shabazz, was subsequently convicted of failing to register as a sex offender or report an address change in 2011.
Dale Earl Lester, an equipment operator, worked for the city from 1982 to 2009, when he resigned days before his conviction of second-degree sexual assault. He was 49 when he committed the violation in 2008, while he was a senior foreman for the city. He was rehired in 2012 as a part-time employee and became full time last year.
Herman Wiley, a streets supervisor, has been employed by the city since 1988. He was convicted of second-degree sexual assault and sexual indecency with a child in 2010, weeks before his 56th birthday and while he was a city employee.
Case by case
There is no policy dealing with how the city responds to the arrest or criminal conviction of an employee. Any disciplinary action must be related to an employee's job duties, Human Resources Director Stacey Witherell said. If an employee is convicted of rape, for example, he wouldn't be able to hold a position that required him to privately interact with residents, but if he is rated Level 2 or below he could still work for the city in certain jobs as long as he notified his employer of his status.
City officials weren't aware of Wiley's 2010 conviction or Lester's 2009 conviction when they occurred, Moore said Monday. Police Chief Stuart Thomas said that any time the Little Rock Police Department arrests a city employee, police notify the worker's department head. Little Rock police arrested Wiley, but Lester's conviction is in Lonoke County.
Wiley's conviction was publicized during last year's murder trial of then-public works employee Anthony Toombs. As Toombs' supervisor, Wiley was called to court as a character witness. Prosecutors questioned Wiley about his conviction on the stand.
Vice Mayor and Ward 6 City Director Doris Wright said she has questioned the continued employment of those who offended while they are city employees and the way the city's new policy was applied retroactively to the two Level 3 offenders.
"My concern was, if these people have exemplary work records, how are you going to all of the sudden create a policy and lay them off like that? Apparently, there's been some rehabilitation here. I think this should have been done more on a one-on-one basis and with a review instead of just a take-a-knife-to-it approach," Wright said, adding that the city may have "created more of a problem than we solved" by putting seemingly rehabilitated ex-offenders out of work and unable to support themselves or their families.
"It does raise an eyebrow if you had people who haven't offended while an employee and someone who is currently offending and still employed. That is a red flag where I'm concerned," Wright said.
Policy change
Moore has consistently said that no particular incident initiated the policy change.
But problems with how the city's felony re-entry employment program operated had something to do with the new background check requirements, according to a May 1 email from Employment Manager Kathleen Walker to Moore's office. The conversation was about how long it would take to get an opinion as to the legality of the drafted policy.
Walker wrote: "Well, considering I did the first memo to [then-HR Director] Don [Flegal] before Spring Break after issues with the sidewalk program. ... This really needs an ASAP. I do not want us in the news with Level 1 or 2 [offenders working] in Parks or the Zoo."
Walker said Monday that she was referring to finding out that re-entry program officials weren't completing full background checks on applicants. Human resources soon took over the task. Moore said he then decided sex-offender checks should be citywide.
Previously, lower-level and entry-type positions did not require any background checks. Now every city position requires at least a sex-offender check. A new check is also completed anytime someone is promoted -- something not previously done.
The promotion scenario occurred this year before the new policy was implemented, according to comments Walker made during a recent presentation at the Arkansas Municipal League Conference on sex offender background checks. She told the audience that when she found out an employee being considered for promotion to a supervisor position was a Level 3 sex offender, she told the manager he couldn't be considered for the job.
"This makes every HR person gasp and fall off the chair," Walker said during the presentation.
Despite there being no policy at that time to limit sex offenders from holding supervisor positions, Walker said Monday that she didn't allow the employee to be considered for the job because the position requires the employee to enter residents' houses and work in private settings.
The city has never listed questions about an applicant's felony or sex-offense history on job applications, but Moore asked that the sex-offender question be added to applications for the re-entry program in late March. That question is now included on all city job applications.
"We've been very aggressive in trying to be proactive in helping people after they've been convicted of a crime, but I think without a doubt we are going to continue to be proactive on public safety efforts," Moore said. "With parks and the zoo, we had to be very clear we didn't have any level sex offender working directly with kids. ... I spent a lot of time thinking about this and talking to our team members and I strongly believe the approach we are taking is the right one."
Metro on 07/01/2014