Treasurer’s immunity faulty, filing contends

Campaign-finance sanctions sought

Attorney Matt Campbell asked a Pulaski County circuit judge on Wednesday to overturn the Arkansas Ethics Commission’s decision to grant state Treasurer Dennis Milligan immunity from sanctions for errors in his campaign-finance reports.

Milligan signed the commission’s offer on Feb. 3 to pay a $400 fine and receive a public letter of warning to settle a wide-ranging ethics complaint filed by Campbell. Milligan agreed with the commission’s finding that he violated campaign-finance laws four times by failing to provide certain information on his campaign-finance reports — mistakes that he described as “technical errors” that he wished his campaign volunteers would have reported correctly the first time.

But Campbell, in his seven-page filing in Pulaski County Circuit Court, said the Ethics Commission improperly applied the “affirmative defense” retroactively under Act 1280 of 2015.

Campbell said that Act 1280 bars the commission from investigating an alleged error in a campaign-finance report if the candidate corrects the unintentional error within 30 days of learning of it.

He said Milligan filed 15

amended campaign-finance reports on Sept. 18, in which he changed how certain campaign expenses and contributions were reported, and the commission said in its settlement offer to Milligan that the “affirmative defense” applied to Campbell’s allegations.

Campbell asked a judge to overturn the commission’s decision and send it back to the commission with instructions to proceed in accordance with the judge’s ruling.

Milligan’s attorney, Byron Freeland of Little Rock, said Wednesday that Campbell’s “true motivation is to keep [his ethics complaint] alive to discredit my client.”

He said Campbell is promoting himself as an ethics expert, but it is difficult to persuade a judge to overturn a state agency’s administrative decision.

Campbell replied: “As the complainant in this, I have an interest in seeing the law applied appropriately [and] as a voter, I have an interest in making sure that the Ethics Commission’s interpretation of a campaign-finance-related law is correct now and in the future.

“As for attempting to discredit Mr. Milligan, he does a fine job of that on his own, so that really did not factor into my decision to appeal,” Campbell said in an email to this newspaper.

Ethics Commission Director Graham Sloan said, “We’ll respond at the appropriate time at the courthouse.”

Campbell’s appeal of the commission’s decision has been assigned to Pulaski County Circuit Judge Mackie Pierce.

Milligan has been the state’s treasurer since Jan. 23, 2015. He is a Benton Republican, a former Saline County circuit clerk and a former chairman of the state Republican Party.

Campbell is a Little Rock attorney and blogger.

Last week, Milligan acknowledged that his campaign for state treasurer violated state campaign-finance laws by failing to:

Report the receipt of in-kind contributions of about $1,200 provided by Gary Underwood through Underwood’s company for video-auditing services when Underwood was employed by Milligan in the Saline County circuit clerk’s office, according to Milligan and Freeland. Underwood is now the state treasurer’s chief information officer.

Properly report information about reimbursing campaign manager Jason Brady about $800 through the Your Ad Team. Brady is now Milligan’s deputy chief of staff.

Dispose of several campaign assets, including a $182.47 printer, a $1,043.08 iPad and Bluetooth keyboard, and a $333.50 guitar. The assets have since been taken away.

Report the receipt of inkind contributions of $52.08 for graphic design provided by his son-in-law and campaign volunteer, Chad Brown, when Brown was on duty as vice president of operations at Milligan’s Water Treatment Services.

Sloan said in his settlement offer dated Feb. 1 to Milligan that the commission concluded that the “affirmative decision” provision in Arkansas Code Annotated 7-6-229 “was applicable” to several of Campbell’s allegations, including two regarding the amounts paid to Brady, but not the initial payment made to him through Your Ad Team.

Sloan said the commission also concluded that the affirmative defense also applied to Campbell’s allegations that Milligan failed to provide certain information in connection with:

A $2,000 campaign contribution from nursing home

owner Michael Morton of Fort Smith,, which appears to reflect a bank receipt deposit date of Dec. 23, 2014. On May 28, Milligan filed an amended campaign finance report that showed the receipt of the contribution on Nov. 5, 2014.

Fourteen amended campaign finance and/or disclosure reports filed for his exploratory committee for state treasurer, which was established on Feb. 25, 2013, and ended on April 30, 2013.

A $1,500 loan repayment made to Your Ad Team and/or in connection with the disclosure of carryover funds following the 2014 general election.

Milligan filed a carryover fund reporting form on July 14, 2015, including the repayment of a $1,500 media production loan on June 16, 2015.