Former state Sen. David Burnett, D-Osceola, has agreed to pay a $250 fine and receive a public letter of caution in a settlement of a complaint with the Arkansas Ethics Commission, according to commission records released Friday.
In the settlement, Burnett agreed with the commission's finding that he violated state law as a candidate for Senate District 22 by accepting campaign contributions from nine businesses and entities "not listed as permissible contributors," commission Director Graham Sloan said in a letter to Burnett. Burnett signed the settlement Jan. 27.
Burnett's campaign accepted contributions from D & L, JTB Development, Gammill Brothers, Land & Timber Resources, Gairhan Farms, Larry's Auto Sales, Ramey Inc., Armorel Planting, and Osceola Liquors -- all of which are registered as corporations and/or businesses with the Arkansas secretary of state's office -- and that's not allowed under Arkansas Code Annotated 7-6-203 (a) (1), Sloan said. Amendment 94 to the Arkansas Constitution bars candidates from accepting campaign contributions directly from corporations or unions.
"Evidence gathered further reflected that you had properly reported all of the contributions and that you returned the contributions upon realizing they might not be from permissible contributors," Sloan wrote in his letter to Burnett.
In September, Craighead County Republican Party Chairman Billie Sue Hoggard filed an ethics complaint against Burnett, alleging that he illegally accepted contributions from 14 businesses and entities. Burnett, who is an attorney, subsequently reported returning more than a dozen contributions totaling more than $5,800 and said his campaign mistakenly accepted the contributions.
Burnett said Friday that he agreed to settle the complaint because "it wasn't worth fooling with anymore."
"I'll never be involved in it again," said Burnett, who lost his re-election bid in November to then-Rep. David Wallace, R-Leachville. Burnett served in the Senate from 2011-17 and previously served as a prosecutor and circuit judge.
Burnett said he felt like he could have defended himself against the complaint, but "it takes too much time and too much hassle."
Hoggard could not be reached for comment by telephone Friday afternoon.
Two weeks ago, the Ethics Commission voted to dismiss a complaint filed by a supporter of Burnett against Wallace over Wallace's loans to his Senate campaign.
In September, Boyd Thomas of Osceola, who described himself as a volunteer for Burnett's campaign, alleged that Wallace failed to properly report campaign contributions by listing such contributions as a loan of personal funds and/or took out a personal line of credit from a financial institution, yet failed to report the name of the financial institution, the amount of the loan and the name of the guarantor.
Sloan said in a letter to Wallace that evidence showed that Wallace made several loans from personal funds to his Senate campaign, and there was no evidence that the funds came from a personal line of credit with a financial institution.
Wallace reported lending $129,864.29 to his Senate campaign and he owed himself $92,248.76 as of Dec. 31. He is an owner of a disaster recovery company and is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel.
Metro on 02/04/2017