Senate President Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, has appointed Larry Teague, Lance Eads and Ricky Hill to complete the membership of the eight-member Select Committee on Senate Ethics, Dismang said Tuesday.
Teague is a Democrat from Nashville, Eads is a Republican from Springdale and Hill is a Republican from Cabot.
Dismang said the committee will hold its first meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday at the state Capitol to elect its chairman and vice chairman, and set "some ground rules for how they move forward."
The other committee members are Sens. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View; Jason Rapert, R-Conway; David Wallace, R-Leachville; Bruce Maloch, D-Magnolia; and Will Bond, D-Little Rock, Senate President Pro Tempore-elect Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, announced last week.
Last week, the Senate voted to overhaul its ethics rules to create the eight-member committee; prohibit senators from certain activities involving conflicts of interest; and require more disclosure of other conflicts and their personal finances.
Dismang said Tuesday that he appointed senators who supported the ethics changes because "it was important to have buy-in for the members on the committee and, secondly, folks that were willing to spend the time that is going to be needed between now and the first of the year."
Hendren said last week that he wants the committee to clarify and develop procedures for the new rules that require more disclosure from senators regarding conflicts of interest. He also wants the committee to determine how to make the ethics rules better and what ethics laws need to be changed. He also wants the committee to help develop a mandatory ethics course for senators.
Any senator who believed there was a violation of the code of ethics could file a complaint with the committee, which will investigate. The complaint will list the name of the accused, the accuser, the provision violated and a description of the suspect activities. The committee could recommend that the Senate punish any violator with penalties ranging from a letter of caution to expulsion.
Federal investigations in the past few years have led to convictions of five former state lawmakers: former Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith; former Sen. Jon Woods, R-Springdale; former Rep. Micah Neal, R-Springdale; former Rep. and Sen. Hank Wilkins, D-Pine Bluff; and former Rep. Eddie Cooper, D-Melbourne.
Lobbyist Milton "Rusty" Cranford's June 7 guilty plea in federal court accused "Senator A" -- acknowledged as Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, by his attorney, Tim Dudley of Little Rock -- of accepting payoffs along with Wilkins and Woods.
Hutchinson, who hasn't been charged or indicted, has denied any wrongdoing through Dudley. He and Hendren are cousins who are nephews of Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Meanwhile, Sen. Hutchinson voluntarily resigned last week from what was the Steel, Wright, Gray & Hutchinson law firm in Little Rock and is now the Steel, Wright & Gray law firm, said Nate Steel, a managing member of the law firm.
"We understand the need for him to focus on matters outside the scope of the firm. We wish him the best and we're all grateful for the opportunity to have worked with him," Steel said in a written statement.
The Arkansas Times blog first reported Hutchinson's departure from the law firm.
Former Reps. Marshall Wright, D-Forrest City, and Steel, D-Nashville, are among those employed at the law firm, according to its website.
Republican Sens. Terry Rice of Waldron, Bill Sample of Hot Springs and Linda Collins-Smith of Pocahontas; and Rep. John Payton, R-Wilburn, have suggested that Sen. Hutchinson resign from the Senate. Dudley has said public officials should not resign because of unfounded and unproven allegations.
Metro on 06/27/2018