Prosecutor seeks to recuse in clerk's case

CONWAY -- Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland said Friday that he plans to ask a judge to appoint a special prosecutor to review a criminal investigation of whether actions by one or more employees in Faulkner County Clerk Margaret Darter's office violated state law.

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In June, Hiland had asked the Arkansas State Police to determine whether anyone in the clerk's office had tampered with public officials' past-due statements of financial interest to make it appear that they had been filed on time.

Hiland said his office received a large state police file late last week on the agency's investigation related "to the statements of financial interest that were in question."

He said he expects to request the appointment early next week.

"It's important that we avoid any appearance of impropriety and conflict," Hiland said. "Since I publicly supported Margaret Darter during the election, I felt like that's the appropriate action to take."

Darter and Hiland are Republicans.

"If the judge allows for the appointment, we will forward all of the case file and supporting documents" to the state Office of the Prosecutor Coordinator, which chooses special prosecutors, Hiland said.

He said he could not comment on the state police findings.

Darter, who is serving her first term in office, did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment Friday. She has previously declined comment.

In his June letter to the state police, Hiland wrote that he had "received information that would indicate SFI's [statements of financial interest] 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.

This year, Jan. 31 was a Saturday, when the clerk's office is usually closed.

An Arkansas Democrat-Gazette request earlier this year for emails exchanged between Darter and Faulkner County's 13 justices of the peace revealed 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."

Faulkner County Attorney David Hogue has said failure to file a statement on time can be a misdemeanor but said the law -- Arkansas Code Annotated 21-8-403 -- states, "The culpable mental state required shall be a purposeful violation."

Many public officials miss the deadline and are rarely, if ever, charged with a crime.

Changing the public record, however, can lead to a tampering charge, which is a Class D felony under Arkansas Code Annotated 5-24-121. It is punishable by up to six years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

State Desk on 09/05/2015

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