Arkansas prosecutor's ex-employee receives ethics fine

The Arkansas Ethics Commission last month fined and warned a former Faulkner County prosecuting attorney's office employee for using her position to obtained sealed court records from another state for her personal use, according to commission records.

April Mathis, who worked as a case coordinator for the 20th Judicial Circuit prosecuting attorney's office, contacted a court clerk in Montana in December 2016 using her Faulkner County email address to obtain sealed court records from a domestic relations case in Montana. The case involved the wife of Mathis' ex-husband, according to an ethics complaint made by Little Rock blogger Russ Racop, who is also running for a seat on the city Board of Directors.

The Ethics Commission at a meeting last month found that Mathis violated Arkansas Code Annotated § 21-8-304(a), which prohibits state employees from using their official positions for special privileges.

Mathis admitted to commissioners that she requested the sealed court records from Montana using her government email account and computer in December 2016 for a personal matter, according to the commission's final order.

She received the documents from Montana after paying for them out of her own pocket, the order states.

Metro on 02/22/2018

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