County sues contractor over courthouse doors

A Ward contractor hired to replace termite-infested entrance doors at the Pulaski County Courthouse was sued Wednesday with County Judge Barry Hyde accusing the builder of accepting $42,000 in county funds without doing the promised work.

The money is what D. Furnell Construction LLC was paid upfront to replace the wooden doors on the south side of the courthouse, the seven-page lawsuit states.

The company was the successful bidder in December 2022 on the project, which was to pay $68,880 to replace the Second Street doors as well as replace the transom, door frame and wood trim. The $42,000 at issue was to cover the cost of the doors, which had to be ordered before work could begin, with the remaining funds paid when the project was completed.

Furnell Construction never did any of the work, not even ordering the doors, and it won’t refund the county’s money, according to the lawsuit. Company manager David Franklin Furnell, a co-defendant, “expressly promised in writing and orally that, through his construction business, he would replace the courthouse doors,” the suit states.

“Furnell made multiple, material, intentional misrepresentations to plaintiff of his intent and ability to replace the courthouse doors and his intent to purchase the materials necessary to replace the courthouse doors with the intent of inducing plaintiff to pay him $42,000. Furnell’s statements to plaintiff were false,” the suit states. “Plaintiff has repeatedly attempted to contact defendants to recover plaintiffs $42,000, but defendants have either been evasive, unresponsive, untruthful, or unavailable.”

The suit before Circuit Judge Tim Fox asserts that by accepting payment without performing the work, Furnell and company have committed the equivalent of a felony crime, and the county is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for breach of contract, fraud, unjust enrichment and civil liability for felonious actions.