BENTONVILLE -- Benton County Sheriff Kelley Cradduck went from speaking at a candidate forum to being arrested Tuesday afternoon.
Cradduck was arrested on accusations of tampering with public documents, a Class D felony, and tampering, a Class A misdemeanor. Jason Barrett, special prosecutor, has not filed formal charges against the sheriff.
Cradduck, who was arrested at the county jail, appeared before Circuit Judge Brad Karren for a bail hearing in the courtroom at the jail. His attorney, Drew Miller, was present at the hearing, as was Barrett.
Cradduck was released on citation, which means he did not have to post a bond. His arraignment is scheduled for 8 a.m. Feb. 29 in Circuit Judge Robin Green's court.
The primary election for Benton County sheriff is March 1. Cradduck, a Republican, seeks a third term in office but will face three challengers in the primary.
Benton County Coroner Daniel Oxford was interim sheriff for the short time Cradduck was in custody. Cradduck regained control of the office after the bail hearing.
Scott Perkins, legislative and communications director with the Association of Arkansas Counties, said state law gives county coroners control of county jails when a sheriff is imprisoned there. Arkansas Code 12-41-511 states: "The county sheriff may be imprisoned in the jail of his or her own county. For the time the county sheriff shall be confined, the county coroner shall have the custody, rule, keeping, and charge of the jail and shall, by himself or herself and his or her securities, be answerable for the faithful discharge of his or her duties in that office."
Barrett and Miller declined to comment after the hearing.
Barrett was appointed as special prosecutor to handle allegations that Cradduck ordered payroll records for Gabriel Cox to be altered to show an earlier hiring date.
Cradduck has denied he ordered the records to be falsified, and he claims the Arkansas State Police investigation is politically motivated.
Cradduck said he was attempting to help Cox, who was homeless at the time, by hiring him to work in the jail. Cox recently was terminated after Rogers police arrested him on misdemeanor drug charges.
Bill Adams, Cradduck's campaign manager, said Cradduck's re-election run is still on. Adams later released a written response from Cradduck.
"There is nothing new to this information. I will have my day in court, and I'm very confident that I will be vindicated," Cradduck said in the statement. "I would like to thank everyone who has reached out and continues to show support prayers and love.
"I am not dropping out the race. I'm going to stick to my message on what I plan to do to keep Benton County safe."
Benton County Justice of the Peace Keven Harrison said Cradduck needs to resign. Harrison, who has been a vocal critic of Cradduck and supports Benton County sheriff's office Maj. Shawn Holloway in the Republican primary, recently filed three complaints with the state Ethics Commission that involve the sheriff's office.
"I'm not the judge and I'm not the jury," Harrison said. "This is between him and his attorney and the prosecutor and the citizens of Benton County. Obviously there was enough probable cause for an arrest, enough for a judge to sign a warrant for him and enough to charge him."
In addition to Holloway, Cpl. Timothy Filbeck with the Siloam Springs Police Department and Lt. Paul Pillaro with the Lowell Police Department are running against Cradduck in the Republican primary.
Cradduck and his opponents spoke at a lunch forum Tuesday in Rogers sponsored by the Benton County Republican Women. Cradduck was arrested after he returned to Bentonville.
The candidates had heated exchanges during a question-and-answer period at the forum.
Holloway said he had attended many Quorum Court meetings and Cradduck said he also attended some meetings.
Cradduck said the majors in the sheriff's office wanted control over their budgets and he agreed to give them that control, so that is when Holloway started attending the meetings.
"I believe that's the job of the sheriff," Holloway said of attending the Quorum Court meetings.
Cradduck responded that Holloway never should have asked to attend the meetings.
"You were not there," Holloway said. "Someone had to go."
Holloway declined to comment on Cradduck's arrest.
Filbeck said Cradduck should step aside until the case is resolved.
"Too often citizens feel law enforcement officers, especially sheriffs and police chiefs, are exempt from criminal investigations and prosecution; this shows that everyone is accountable for their actions," he said. "This does not mean he is guilty of any offense. Sheriff Kelley Cradduck still has the same rights as any other citizen and will be tried by his peers for actual guilt or innocence."
Don Kendall is the attorney representing Capt. Jeremy Guyll and Lt. Robin Holt in a grievance against the county after they were demoted. The two claimed they were demoted by Cradduck for cooperating with the state police investigation into the allegations against the sheriff. Kendall said Cradduck needs to explain, in specific terms, his claims that the allegations against him are politically motivated.
"I don't know what he's talking about," Kendall said. "We represent several whistleblowers within the sheriff's office. This all originated with the state police investigation. Is he saying the state police are involved in some political witch-hunt."
Information for this article was contributed by Tom Sissom of the NWA Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 01/20/2016