State Sen. Garner repays $7,327.33 to Arkansas Public Defender Commission

Arkansas Senator Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, asks the Mayor of Bonanza questions about a shortage of funds caused by his daughter allegedly embezzling over $200,000 during a meeting of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Stephen Swofford)
Arkansas Senator Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, asks the Mayor of Bonanza questions about a shortage of funds caused by his daughter allegedly embezzling over $200,000 during a meeting of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Stephen Swofford)

Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, has repaid $7,327.33 in salary that he was paid as a part-time public defender to the Arkansas Public Defender Commission, state records show.

In August, Commission Executive Director Gregg Parrish told state lawmakers that Garner had offered to repay the salary that he was paid as a part-time public defender. At that time, Garner declined to comment about offering to repay the public defender commission or why he resigned as a public defender.

Garner sent in a check dated September 29 for $3,000 to the Arkansas Public Defender Commission for repayment of salary and sent in another check dated December 16 for $4,327.32 to the commission for final payment of salary, state records show.

In an email dated September 29 to commission personnel manager Dorothy Dickinson, Garner wrote that "I have sen[t] the first check, and will continue to send installment payments until I have paid the total amount, per our discussion."

In response, Dickinson wrote in an email dated October 4 to Garner that "I am in receipt of your first installment repayment in the amount of $3,000.00, leaving you with a balance of $4,327.33.

"If possible, can you please provide me with a projected repayment schedule indicating the amounts of each installment?"

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette obtained these records under requests made this month under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Garner could not be reached for comment by telephone by the Democrat-Gazette on Monday and Tuesday.

He has served in the Senate since 2017. He is an attorney and a former aide to U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton and emerged as an outspoken critic of Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson. In January, he announced he would not seek re-election this year and instead planned to build his legal practice and help south Arkansans "reform the judiciary." His term as a state senator ends in January.

Garner started work with the public defender commission, effective April 12, and his resignation was effective June 6, according to a Department of Transformation and Shared Services spokeswoman.

Garner wrote in an email dated June 3 to Parrish and public defender manager Darren Nelson in the 13th Judicial District that "Effective immediately, I am resigning my position with the Arkansas Public Defender Commission.

"Thank you for the opportunity and please let me know if I can be of any assistance moving forward," Garner wrote in his email to Parrish and Nelson.

Parrish has said Garner resigned after Parrish sent him an article by the Blue Hog Report blog that outlined allegations against Garner. The Blue Hog report suggested that Garner likely violated Arkansas Code Annotated 21-1-402, a law that bars officials elected to "a constitutional office" from working for any state agency during their term.

"Constitutional officer" as defined in the law includes members of the Arkansas Senate and House of Representatives, along with a governor and other elected officials. "State agency" encompasses a swath of entities including state commissions.

In an email dated June 2 to Parrish, Matt Campbell of the Blue Hog Report wrote that "Unless there is something that I and others are overlooking, it would appear that the hiring of Trent Garner by the public defender's commission in Union County, while he is still a state senator would violate Ark. Code Ann. 21-1-104, and that such a violation is potentially a [Class] D felony."

In an email dated June 3 to Garner, Parrish wrote that "Upon reading the article my initial thought was that Mr. [Matt] Campbell thought you were a full-time public defender," and the commission has relied upon an attorney general's advisory opinion from 2003, which allowed a state representative to also be a public defender.

Parrish said he took some time to review the law cited in the article and sent an email to the public defender commission's liaison at the attorney general's office asking for his input.

"Apparently, the law was changed in 2017 with the relevant part being the change of the word 'may' to 'shall not" when it comes to an elected official also maintaining state employment," he wrote in his email dated June 3 to Garner. "While there are exceptions to this requirement, I find none which would fit your situation."

Parrish asked Garner in the email to review the law and let him know his thoughts.

"I desire for you to continue in this position, provided we can comply with the law," Parrish wrote in his June 3 email. "If we can't find a legal exception to this issue, your employment with the [Arkansas Public Defender Commission] will have to end."

In March, the Joint Budget Committee authorized the transfer of $1 million apiece from the state's restricted reserve fund to the Arkansas Public Defender Commission and Office of Prosecutor Coordinator to hire 45 more attorneys each to an attempt to reduce the backlog of cases in the state's courts amid the covid-19 pandemic.

In August, the Legislative Council authorized the use of $4.5 million in American Rescue Plan funds each for the public defenders commission and the prosecutor coordinator's office to continue their work to reduce the court case backlog.

Information for this article was contributed by Will Langhorne of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.


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