The mayor of Helena-West Helena fired the city's District Court staff last week in what he said was an effort to "reform" the city's judicial system.
The District Court office was disbanded Friday and all six employees were terminated effective immediately, Mayor Kevin Smith said Monday.
Smith said he met with City Council members Monday after learning there could be possible litigation after he disbanded the District Court.
"Some members of City Council believe I don't have the authority to disband the court," Smith said. "Their view is that the District Court employees are state employees, not city employees."
Council members couldn't be reached for comment Monday afternoon, but council member Don Etherly shared a Facebook post that stated "Ultra Vires - acting beyond one's legal power or authority." The post drew comments that mentioned the mayor.
Smith said he disagreed with council members who say he overstepped his authority.
"The position of the Arkansas Legislative Audit, as you can see in the audit itself, has been that our particular District Court falls under the Mayor's Office and it is the Mayor who is ultimately held accountable," Smith said in a letter released Monday. "I have consulted with many credible sources and received input from -- among others -- the Administrative Office of the Courts, Legislative Audit, District Court Judge Durwood King, City Attorney Andre Valley and others. I have received no administrative determination from any source that the status of the Court's supervision under the Mayor's Office has changed."
King said in a letter to City Council members that if it is determined that District Court employees are not city employees, he would take the same action as the mayor took.
"Until such time as there is more clarification and direction, I designate the mayor to continue on the court's behalf as supervisor over district court employees," Durwood wrote in the letter.
Smith said the disbandment is in part a response to the November finding of financial irregularities with the District Court published and submitted by Arkansas Legislative Audit to the 1st Judicial District prosecutor's office for criminal investigation.
Legislative Audit documents stated that procedures indicated the offices of mayor, city clerk, treasurer and District Court clerk were in noncompliance with state law and accepted accounting practices.
District Court Clerk Dionne Carter and her office were mentioned multiple times in the audit, including an allegation that she was getting paid a full-time salary but was working only six hours a day. She also was one of two employees who were engaging in other employment activities during the normal business day, the audit said.
The audit said the District Court clerk's office also had errors in account procedures, including year-end bank balances of $130,822 that were not identified, with receipt numbers for cases not yet adjudicated, and payments made on all unpaid individual accounts because a Dec. 31, 2017, bonds pending report was not generated. A similar finding was issued for years 2013 through 2016, documents showed.
Smith said the city is facing severe financial challenges, including at least an estimated $405,000 in operating debt from accounts carried forward to this year. He said District Court also had a large number of unpaid and uncollected fines.
"If we don't take this audit serious, then we can be held in noncompliance and the state could withhold funding from our city," Smith said Monday. "As a city who is dealing with severe financial challenges, we can't afford that."
Earlier this year, Helena-West Helena became the epicenter of Operation "Press Your Luck," a multi-agency effort led by the U.S. Marshals Service that targeted fugitive gang members wanted on arrest warrants for violent criminal offenses. The intent was to provide communities with immediate relief from violent gang-related crime, and the operation resulted in the arrest of 44 people, including at least one man accused in a Nov. 21 homicide.
Smith said the disbandment of the District Court is a part of returning law and order to Phillips County. Efforts have been made to overhaul the justice process within the city, he said, and addressing District Court issues is part of that.
"When you have the District Court under criminal investigation, then you know you have serious problems," Smith said.
The mayor said he decided to disband the entire District Court staff because he didn't want to cast shame on a single employee. Employees have been encouraged to reapply for their positions, he said.
"It's not a power move," Smith said. "I am doing this for the public good. We had some serious problems."
State Desk on 04/09/2019