Sheriff rips JPs’ handling of grievances
Campaign-time politics tainted process, says Benton County’s Cradduck
ROGERS — Benton County Sheriff Kelley Cradduck said Wednesday that complaints made against him by employees are political, and he chastised the Benton County Quorum Court for its handling of two grievances last year.
“These grievance hearings came along in campaign season,” said Cradduck, who faces three opponents in the March 1 Republican primary. “They’re peppering me with them to give the impression things are not going well with the sheriff’s office. Things have never been better.”
Capt. Jeremy Guyll and Lt. Robin Holt, two jail employees, filed grievances with the county in October after they were demoted by Cradduck. Guyll and Holt said they were demoted after they cooperated with an Arkansas State Police investigation. Police have confirmed they are investigating allegations that Cradduck ordered payroll records for Gabriel Cox altered to show an earlier hire date. Cradduck has denied he ordered the records to be falsified.
Cox was fired last week after he was arrested by Rogers police on misdemeanor drug charges.
Jason Barrett, a special prosecutor named to oversee the investigation, declined to comment on Cradduck’s case and the investigation Wednesday.
The county’s Grievance Council, made up of five justices of the peace, recommended Guyll and Holt be reinstated after hearing their complaints in November. Cradduck did not attend nor participate in the hearings. He said Wednesday that was a mistake on his part.
“These grievances are trying to overshadow all the positive things that are happening in the sheriff’s office,” Cradduck said. “I do not agree with the way the Quorum Court handled that grievance hearing. It had the effect of cutting the legs out from under the sheriff and, basically, allowed some individuals to run amok.”
Grievance Council member Kurt Moore said justices of the peace were unanimous in finding Holt and Guyll were protected by the state Whistle-Blower Act and in recommending they be reinstated to their previous positions. Moore rejected the suggestion the council’s recommendation caused problems inside the sheriff’s office.
“I think most reasonable people would agree that under the circumstances, under the testimony that we heard, that the individuals were retaliated against,” Moore said. “What happened beyond that point, to me, is a different issue.”
Michelle Chiocco, head of the Grievance Council, said Cradduck might have influenced the outcome of the hearings if he had participated.
“We didn’t have that opportunity,” she said.
Cradduck dismissed the allegations in Holt’s new grievance, filed Tuesday, in which she claims he has created a hostile work environment because of her cooperation with the state police.
“It is 100 percent crystal clear this is politically motivated,” Cradduck said. “It’s a lot of half-truths and childish allegations.”
Cradduck said Don Kendall, Holt’s attorney, has political motivations, saying he had been campaign manager for “a former sheriff.”
Cradduck’s claims are untrue, Kendall said. Kendall said he was the campaign manager for former Sheriff Keith Ferguson but that he has no connection with anyone in the current sheriff’s race.
“I don’t file any type of legal action for political purposes,” Kendall said. “Never have, never will.”
Kendall said the merits of Holt’s grievance will be shown at a hearing.
Barb Ludwig, Benton County’s human resources administrator, said Wednesday that she and George Spence, county attorney, were reviewing Holt’s grievance to see whether it fits within the county’s policy. No decision has been made on sending the grievance on to the Grievance Council, Ludwig said.