State court justice cautioned over contribution

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Shawn Womack of Mountain Home and an unsuccessful state House candidate, Rusty Latham of Texarkana, have agreed in settlements with the Arkansas Ethics Commission to each receive a public letter of caution for violating a state law in the 2016 election cycle.

Womack agreed in the settlement with the commission finding that as a candidate for the state Supreme Court in 2016, he unintentionally violated Arkansas Code Annotated 7-6-203(d)(1) by his campaign committee’s acceptance of a $2,700 contribution from the AR Trade First political action committee, commission Director Graham Sloan said in a letter dated Friday to Womack.

The AR Trade First political action committee was a prohibited political action committee because it wasn’t registered at the time its contribution was made, Sloan said. Kendall Bond of Russellville filed the complaint against Womack, who is a former circuit judge and state lawmaker.

In the other case, Latham signed a consent order in which he agreed with the commission finding he violated Arkansas Code Annotated 7-6-203(d)(1) as a candidate for the House District 1 seat during the 2016 election cycle by accepting a contribution from a prohibited political action committee, Sloan said in a letter dated June 23 to Latham.

Bond also filed the complaint against Latham, who lost in the 2016 Republican primary to state Rep. Carol Dalby of Texarkana.

Sloan said the contribution at issue was $250 that Latham received from the Commerce in Action political action committee.

In April, the Commerce in Action and AR Trade First political action committees were two of 14 political action committees, represented by Fayetteville attorney Brenda Vassaur-Taylor, that signed settlements of ethics complaints filed by Bond in which the committees acknowledge violations of state law in 2016. They agreed to pay fines collectively totaling $1,450 and each received a public letter of caution. Joe Maynard of Fayetteville and Vassaur-Taylor were listed as officers for both the Commerce in Action and AR Trade First PACs in 2016.

Vassaur-Taylor has said there was a small window of time in 2016 when the PACs were not registered and “a clerical error was made in our office by an employee.”