FAYETTEVILLE -- Washington County justices of the peace are divided over cameras that were quietly installed last year in a small break room near the Quorum Court's meeting space. The cameras were turned off in November after a justice of the peace complained about them.
Justice of the Peace Sue Madison, a Democrat representing southeastern Fayetteville, said Jan. 21 that she wanted to know more about the cameras.
"I feel like we are owed an explanation that we were taped both audio and visual without our knowledge," she said.
Madison wants to know how many recordings were made and for how long a time, how much it cost the county for installation, why the cameras were hidden and whether the county should have a regulation about cameras in the break room.
"The whole thing bothers me -- it really bothers me," Madison said. "I would want assurance that it won't happen again."
The issue has sparked enough anger that Justice of the Peace Harvey Bowman, a Republican representing north-central Washington County, plans to bring it up during a Public Works Committee meeting Monday.
Bowman is chairman of the committee.
Madison said she wanted county Information Systems employees to attend the meeting, but as of Thursday afternoon, no one had invited employees from that department to attend, said George Butler, chief of staff for the county judge.
The county did not violate any laws by making or deleting the recording, Butler and County Attorney Steve Zega said. The county judge has the authority to record in the public facility, said Scott Perkins, spokesman for the Arkansas Association of Counties.
The county does not have a policy concerning video-recording storage, but other recordings are typically deleted in about 30 days, Butler said. There is no state law mandating how long a county must keep a video recording, Butler and Zega said.
The stir-up is over two cameras.
Marilyn Edwards, county judge for Washington County, purchased cameras for $1,016 on Aug. 3, including expedited shipping, from Home Spy, according to a county receipt provided by Butler. The security company sells professional-grade, wireless, self-recording and covert cameras, according to its website.
Two digital video cameras shaped like smoke detectors, two power cords and one adapter were delivered to the county's information technology department Aug. 4, the receipt shows.
The cameras were installed to find out who was stealing employees' lunches and snacks, Butler said.
Signs saying that cameras had been installed in the break room went up last fall, Zega said. No recordings were made before the signs went up, Butler said.
Butler did not know exactly when the cameras were installed and turned on. He said only one recording was made.
Madison said she complained to Edwards in November, about two weeks after she saw the break room signs. Madison said being recorded by hidden cameras in a room that she considers private bothered her.
The cameras were then turned off and have not been turned back on, Butler said. No one looked at what was recorded, and the video has been destroyed, he said.
The dust-up over the cameras is part of long-running tension between the county judge and some Quorum Court members, justices of the peace said.
A month before the cameras were ordered, justices of the peace decided to dissolve a budget committee whose members had been appointed by Edwards, Bowman said. Instead, justices of the peace decided that all of the justices of the peace would be involved in the 2015 budget process.
The county judge was not happy, Bowman said. Shortly after that, the cameras were installed, he said.
"It's the judge's way to capture something that would be very intimidating," Bowman said. "I think it's a matter of the judge being very vindictive."
Edwards was on vacation Friday and not available for comment.
The issue was raised and seemingly resolved last year, Butler said. Bringing up the cameras again is a political move, said Justice of the Peace Robert Dennis, a Republican representing central Washington County.
"I think it's got to be a political thing," he said.
Edwards is running against Justice of the Peace Eva Madison, a Democrat representing the northeastern part of Fayetteville, in the primary election March 1.
Edwards is not seeking re-election as county judge.
Dennis and Justice of the Peace Butch Pond, a Republican representing the rural eastern edge of the county, said there are other issues that the Quorum Court should be discussing -- not cameras in a break room. Both said the room is public, and the recordings were not made in secret.
Pond said the room should have cameras for security and safety reasons.
"That break room does not belong to the Quorum Court -- that building belongs to the taxpayers of Washington County," Pond said.
Dennis said it is possible that some justices of the peace talk about and make decisions about county business while in the break room. Installing the cameras may have been an effort to deter that, he said.
Bowman said justices of the peace have not been talking about county business in that room.
Edwards has been under fire since it was revealed that the county Road Department failed to follow engineering plans and built two flawed bridges, Bowman said. With the cameras, Edwards has overreached her authority and invaded the privacy of justices of the peace, he said.
"I am hoping the public comes to realize that we have a serious problem there [with Edwards], and we need to find a resolution when it comes election time," Bowman said.
Metro on 01/31/2016