CONWAY -- The Arkansas State Police has begun an investigation to determine whether one or more employees in the Faulkner County clerk's office tampered with public officials' past-due statements of financial interest to make it appear that they had been filed on time, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland had asked the state police to conduct a criminal review of the matter.
Hiland said in a text message Wednesday that his office "received confirmation from the Arkansas State Police this morning that a Special Agent of the ASP Special Investigations Unit was assigned to handle the case."
In an email, state police spokesman Bill Sadler said, "An investigative file has been opened. It is an active case."
Clerk Margaret Darter, who is serving her first term in office, said Wednesday that she had no comment "at this time."
When asked if anyone was pressuring her to resign, Darter said, "No."
In a letter to the state police dated last week and released Monday, Hiland cited irregularities with the filings of statements of financial interests by Faulkner County elected officials.
He added, "In particular, I have received information that would indicate SFI's from multiple elected county officials were filed subsequent to the legal deadline ... but were improperly file stamped to reflect a timely filing and compliance with the law."
For most public-office holders, such statements are due annually by Jan. 31. The documents provide limited information on sources of income and holdings in the previous year for the officials and their spouses.
Jan. 31 was a Saturday, when the clerk's office is usually closed.
Earlier this week, Darter released the statements for numerous county officeholders, including 10 of the 13 county justices of the peace, in response to a request under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. That made it appear that three justices of the peace still had not filed their statements.
Later, Darter found the form for Justice of the Peace Barry Williams, whose form was filed in April.
A separate request for emails exchanged between Darter and justices of the peace showed a Feb. 27 email that Darter sent telling them that they should file their statements immediately and that she would "hand file them for January 31st." It showed that all 13 Quorum Court members received the email, not just 12 as it earlier appeared in the document released.
An email that the prosecutor's office released Monday redacted the email addresses of the justices of the peace. The redaction left no reference to Justice of the Peace Steve Goode, even though the email also went to him.
"All personal email addresses for the county officials were redacted from the email, while individual names were left un-redacted," Hiland explained Wednesday. "Mr. Goode's was the only official who wasn't listed individually [by name] on the [original] email; however, for some reason his email was listed twice and redacted."
State Desk on 06/25/2015