PINE BLUFF -- The trial date for Jefferson County Clerk Patricia Royal Johnson has been continued to Feb. 22 to accommodate the schedule of the Jefferson County Circuit Court, a special prosecutor assigned to the case said.
Special Prosecutor Jack McQuary said the trial will last at least a week because of the large number of witnesses being called by Johnson's defense team. The trial had been scheduled for two days, beginning Thursday.
"We knew we were going to need a larger block of time once we saw the witness list," McQuary said. "It's quite extensive, and the soonest the court could work us in was Feb. 22."
The three-term county clerk was charged in April with 10 counts of forgery, one count of abuse of public trust and four counts of theft of property concerning the findings of an audit conducted by the Arkansas Division of Legislative Audit.
Messages left for Austin Porter, Johnson's attorney, were not returned Monday. Johnson has deferred all questions regarding her case to him.
Retired Pulaski County Circuit Judge John Langston is presiding over the case. Both the special judge and special prosecutor were appointed to the case after Jefferson County's prosecutor and circuit judges asked to recuse.
A Legislative Audit report released in February showed that since 2009, Johnson, 67, had issued more than $60,000 in bonuses to employees without seeking approval from the Quorum Court.
McQuary said he is researching whether state laws could have allowed the bonuses.
The audit also showed that Johnson "prepared payroll documents which indicated the employees were being compensated for overtime worked. The number of overtime hours reflected on this document (970) far exceeded the number of overtime hours actually worked (55), according to time clock reports."
The county's personnel policy requires that salaried employees receive compensatory time rather than overtime.
While the case proceeds, Johnson has remained on the job at the Jefferson County Courthouse.
Some in Jefferson County are hoping the trial is over as quickly as possible because they say it's putting the county in a bad light. Redfield resident James Mays, who was conducting business at the Jefferson County Courthouse on Monday afternoon, said he's disappointed that the trial date has been moved.
"A speedy trial is what we need, isn't it?" Mays asked. "This thing has been dragging out for months now. I wish they had gone ahead and gotten it over with during the summer. All this negativity dragging on and on just makes us look bad."
Sherry Jones of Pine Bluff was also at the courthouse Monday. She said she is a Johnson supporter and plans to attend the trial. Like Mays, she said she wished it were already over.
"I think the outcome is going to be good for Mrs. Johnson," Jones said. "And I guess we will just have to wait a little longer for that to happen. I hope the date stays in February and isn't postponed again. We need all of this to be over with so everyone can move on."
State Desk on 10/06/2015