FAYETTEVILLE -- People should care about hidden cameras installed in a break room justices of the peace and county employees use, said Justice Eva Madison during a Public Works Committee meeting Monday.
"I think people should be upset about this," said Madison, a Democrat representing northeastern Fayetteville.
Other business
The Public Works Committee will look at adding or changing the the county’s vehicle policy over the next few months, justices of the peace decided on Monday. Justices of the peace will also research ways to track county vehicles in all departments, they said.
Source: Staff report
Madison said she believes federal or state laws may have been violated when County Judge Marilyn Edwards ordered cameras installed by county employees in the break room this past fall.
Edwards, who isn't running for re-election as county judge, is running against Madison for her Quorum Court seat in the primary election.
County Attorney Steve Zega said the county violated no laws and pointed out signs were put in the break room to notify people of the cameras. The signs were put up before any recordings were made, he said.
Zega didn't attend the meeting Monday.
Reached by phone, Zega said if Madison believes a federal law was broken, she should bring that before the property authorities.
The one recording made from the cameras has been destroyed, he added. The cameras have since been turned off.
The two cameras, which are shaped like smoke detectors, were purchased for $1,016 in August and installed around October, said George Butler, chief of staff for the county judge. The cameras were meant to stop theft in the break room, Butler said.
Justice of the Peace Sue Madison, a Democrat representing southeastern Fayetteville, asked Edwards to stop recording in the break room shortly after the signs went up, sometime around October. Edwards said at Monday's meeting Madison also asked Edwards not to talk about the recording publicly.
The recording was a record open under state law, Zega said previously.
Madison said no conversation like that happened with Edwards.
Eva Madison said the timing of the installation is questionable because Edwards has openly written in a newspaper she thought justices of the peace were meeting in the break room and talking about county business privately. That would violate the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
Also, in July, justices of the peace dissolved a Budget Committee, which frustrated the county judge, Justice of the Peace Harvey Bowman said. The cameras were purchased shortly after that, he said.
Bowman, a Republican, represents north-central Washington County.
Madison said any audio recording may have violated the privacy of employees.
She cited laws including the National Labor Relations Act and the a federal law on interception and disclosure of wire, oral or electronic communication.
Edwards had the right to add the cameras, Zega said. Under Arkansas Code 14-14-1102, the county judge is the custodian of county property and is responsible for security of the property.
"There is no expectation of privacy in that room," Zega said in email to justices of the peace Monday. "If you have an expectation of privacy, it is misplaced at best."
On Monday, justices of the peace went in and out of the break room getting snacks. One of the the two doors was open nearly the entire time.
While Madison and some justices of the peace said Edwards may have violated laws, other justices of the peace questioned whether their peers have been making decisions about county business privately. That may violate the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
Bowman and other justices of the peace have said repeatedly there have been no private discussion among justices of the peace on county business.
NW News on 02/02/2016