FAYETTEVILLE -- A Washington County justice of the peace pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and apologized for her actions.
Andrea Jenkins, 41, pleaded guilty Dec. 16 to a misdemeanor and was fined $1,040 plus court costs, according to Rachel Guenther, chief clerk for Prairie Grove District Court. Jail time in the case was suspended.
Jenkins is a teacher at Williams Elementary School in Farmington. She was elected to the Quorum Court in 2018 from District 10, which includes Farmington and part of Fayetteville.
Jenkins, a Democrat, has filed for reelection. Robert Dennis, a Republican, has filed as a candidate for that seat.
Police arrested Jenkins on June 12 for driving while intoxicated after she arrived at the scene of an accident involving her son at Heritage Parkway and Butler Road in Prairie Grove.
The officer reported that he noticed a strong odor of intoxicants when he was talking to Jenkins and asked her if she had been drinking. Jenkins told the officer that she had two glasses of wine.
The officer administered a field sobriety test, and the results were consistent with an intoxicated person, according to the report.
Video from the officer's body camera shows Jenkins cursing and yelling at the officer. She refused to take a breath test, and was arrested and taken to the Washington County jail. Tests taken at the jail showed a blood alcohol content of 0.17, according to the police report. The legal limit in Arkansas is 0.08.
"I would like to take this time to apologize to all concerned parties and the community in connection to my actions on the evening of my arrest," Jenkins said in the statement to the court.
"Although my actions (were) inexcusable, I had no intention to drive after having consumed some wine that evening. I was home when my 16-year-old son called and said that he had been involved (in) a car accident that had totalled his car and he needed me there. I panicked at that moment, and in that unclear state of mind, and full of anxiety, I left the house to get my son."
Jenkins said she was anxious about her son because he had recently had surgery.
"My panic and inebriated state led to uncharacteristic actions and reactions that I deeply regret," Jenkins said. "Today, I humbly ask for forgiveness of those actions."
Metro on 01/03/2020