AG’s action on town stirs ire
Lawmakers say step skipped in Allport-dissolution matter
The Legislative Joint Auditing Committee’s executive committee is irked over Attorney General Leslie Rutledge securing a court order to allow the judge to revoke the charter of the town of of Allport in Lonoke County if the town fails to comply with municipal accounting laws.
The auditing committee co-chairman, Rep. Richard Womack, R-Arkadelphia, said Friday that Act 712 of 2017 requires the attorney general’s office to file pleadings to dissolve a municipal charter in the 6th Judicial District upon a notification from the committee that a municipality is not following municipal accounting laws and then for a judge to revoke the charter, but “that has not happened.”
He said it’s personally frustrating to him that the attorney general’s office hasn’t communicated with, among others, either him or the joint auditing committee’s other co-chairman, Sen. Ronald Caldwell, R-Wynne, Arkansas Legislative Audit staff attor
ney Frank Arey or Legislative Auditor Roger Norman.
“They basically have thumbed their nose at every effort we’ve made to follow the law,” Womack, said, referring to the Republican attorney general’s office.
Then the audit committee’s executive committee approved Womack’s motion for Norman “to take the authority to take any action necessary … to force the attorney general to do her job.
“We don’t know exactly what that is going to look like at the moment,” Womack acknowledged.
Afterward, Rutledge spokeswoman Amanda Priest said in a statement, “The priority has been and continues to be that the Attorney General ensures Allport is compliant with the law.
“If they are unable to adhere to the terms of the agreement, then the charter could be revoked as early as December,” she said.
“The initial agreement was filed June 2, 2021 and all interested parties were aware of ongoing negotiation,” Priest said.
With a population of 86, based on 2020 U.S. Census information, Allport is an agriculture-dependent community that sits along U.S. 165 between England and Stuttgart. In 2019, a prosecutor determined the city’s police department violated Arkansas’ speed-trap law.
Under an order signed Thursday by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright Jr., the court found that Allport is afforded an opportunity to comply with all outstanding and deficient Arkansas municipal accounting laws for 2019 and 2020 within 180 days of June 17, which is Dec. 14.
Under Wright’s order, the court shall appoint a special master to review whether Allport has come into compliance with Arkansas municipal accounting laws for 2019 and 2020 and the parties are directed to submit the names of an agreeable special master. If the parties are unable to agree on a special master, the court is required to appoint the special master.
Under Wright’s order, the special master is required to report his or her findings to the court and each party, and each party may submit written objections to the findings within 20 days of receiving the report.
Based on a review of the special master’s findings, the court will determine Allport’s compliance with the law.
“If the Court finds that the Town of Allport remains non-compliant as mentioned above with any Arkansas Municipal Accounting Laws for the years 2019 and 2020, the Court may revoke the Town of Allport’s charter or take whatever appropriate action the Court deems appropriate,” Wright’s order stated.
“If the Court finds that the Town of Allport has become compliant with the relevant Arkansas Municipal Accounting Law for the years 2019 and 2020, this action shall be dismissed.”
Wright’s order said it reflects an agreement between the attorney general’s office and Allport.
Willard Proctor Jr., who is an attorney representing Allport, said Friday that Wright’s order is both valid and appropriate.
He said he anticipates Allport will do everything in can to be in compliance.
In September, the audit committee started, for the first time under Act 712 of 2017, the process of trying to dissolve a municipality, abolish its offices and return the territory and its residents to the county. The panel authorized notifying the attorney general and governor of what it was doing.
Act 712 was sponsored by now-Senate President Pro Tempore Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana. The law created a procedure for the revocation of a charter of a municipal corporation as a result of noncompliance with state municipal accounting law.
Act 712 requires the attorney general’s office to file pleadings in 6th Judicial Circuit Court, based on the committee’s notification, to revoke the charter.
Earlier Friday, Norman told the auditing committee’s executive committee, “There has been an order entered in the circuit court where it appears the circuit court is going to make the determination of whether or not that Allport is in compliance, which is in our opinion goes against the specifics of the law and we feel like that is a legislative determination.
“In addition, the attorney general has not done what she is statutorily required to do,” Norman said. “Therefore we would like for the committee to give the legislative audit the authority to protect the interests of the General Assembly in this matter.”
Caldwell and Womack had invited Rutledge in a letter dated July 28 to the Sept. 10 Legislative Joint Auditing Committee meeting to explain why her office has yet to take action aimed at dissolving Allport’s charter.
Norman told the executive committee on Friday that if Rutledge doesn’t attend the Sept. 10 meeting, “then I would think that there would be appropriate action by the committee to compel her attendance.”