Searcy fires IT chief as $38,000 payout traced

Searcy information technology director David Sawyers was fired amid an investigation into how money was spent in his department.

Mayor David Morris placed Sawyers on administrative leave with pay earlier this month “upon the advice of legal counsel.”

On Friday Morris wrote a “notice of termination” to Sawyers. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette obtained the letter Monday under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

“I have decided your continued employment with the City of Searcy is no longer in the City of Searcy’s best interest,” Morris wrote to Sawyers. “Please consider the document as official notification that your employment … is hereby terminated immediately.”

Morris wrote that Sawyers would be paid through March 18. He was not to perform any official activities on behalf of the city upon termination.

Morris advised Sawyers to collect any of his personal items during regular business hours on or before March 31.

The Daily Citizen in Searcy reported that city officials questioned Sawyers about a company, Technology 1 Source, that the newspaper said Sawyers paid more than $38,000 in 2016. The company’s website was under construction Tuesday.

The Searcy newspaper indicated that Technology 1 Source established its Web domain Feb. 27. An Internet service that checks the legitimacy of websites, scamadviser. com, said Technology 1 Source was based in the United States but “the real location is being hidden.”

The owner was listed as Perfect Privacy LLC in Jacksonville, Fla. — a company that puts its name and address on Web domain registrations for owners who wish to remain anonymous.

“This can sometimes be just so that the owner does not receive spam, but be aware that many scam sites use this as a method to hide their identity,” a note on scamadviser. com said. “The website has been newly registered with a short life expectancy, which follows the pattern used by many fraudulent and fake selling websites.”

The Democrat-Gazette could not reach Sawyers for comment by phone.

The Daily Citizen reported that Becky McCoy, the prosecutor for White and Prairie counties, confirmed the Arkansas State Police and legislative auditors would soon begin a joint investigation into Sawyers and the information technology department.

Morris said Tuesday that he could not comment about the case.