Judge rebukes Little Rock official for city's late payment of fine

A circuit court judge said Monday that he needed more time to consider whether to cite Little Rock for contempt of court after it failed to pay a $10,000 fine by the appointed deadline.

Judge Tim Fox issued the order April 25 and gave the city 10 days to comply, but the May 5 deadline came and went without payment. The city paid the fine May 12, a week late.

Appearing in court to explain the city's actions, City Manager Bruce Moore said that although there were sufficient funds, the fine was not paid on time because City Attorney Tom Carpenter said he was planning to appeal.

The decision to withhold payment was not designed to willfully disobey the court, Moore said.

Fox said: "During any one of those days, all you had to do was make a phone call or an email and that check would have been written."

Fox levied the fine in response to a city attorney who several times sought to delay a trial in which the city is accused of gender discrimination in the termination of a female police officer, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.

After the city paid the fine, Carpenter filed a motion asking Fox to cancel Monday's hearing, b̶u̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶d̶e̶n̶i̶e̶d̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶l̶a̶n̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶. The judge did not respond to that motion.

Carpenter expressed frustration in the hearing and said there is no Arkansas law that permits sanctions for not being prepared for trial — only if prosecutors refuse to go to trial.

"We are not here to defend the trial. We are here to deal with payment," he said.

Fox countered by saying: "You’re trying to argue, yell and scream. What you should have done was be prepared for court, and your office was not."

Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.