(The Center Square) – The Arkansas Joint Review Committee approved a motion saying the Board of Corrections disregarded public transparency and there are “perceived and discussed” violations of laws pertaining to the board’s hiring of a private attorney.
The motion approved by a voice vote on Tuesday stopped short of referring the committee’s findings to the state’s inspector general, which investigates cases of fraud and abuse of state agencies. The findings will go before the Arkansas Legislative Council.
The committee questioned the hiring of Little Rock attorney Abtin Mehdizadegan by the BOC in December for $207,000 in three hearings. A motion made during Monday’s hearing appeared to pass but was brought up again at Tuesday’s meeting.
“The board lacked both the financial and statutory authority to enter into the contract,” Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, said in his motion. “There are perceived and discussed violation of laws and there is an acknowledged lack of process for board meetings and the procurement process.”
The motion said if the contract goes before the Arkansas Legislative Council, it should not be reviewed.
The Department of Corrections did not immediately return a message to The Center Square seeking comment.
The BOC has been at odds with some state officials since last year.
Attorney General Tim Griffin sued the Board of Corrections for violating the state Freedom of Information Act shortly after Mehdizadegan was hired. The Arkansas Supreme Court declined to expedite the case after it was struck down by a lower court earlier this year.
Former Department of Corrections Secretary Joe Profiri was fired by the board in January after a disagreement over adding beds to some state prisons to relieve overcrowding. Profiri and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders held a joint news conference last year saying the board should add the 500 new beds. Sanders publicly called for the resignation of BOC Chairman Benny Magness in December.
The board is suing the state over a law that gives the governor the authority over the Department of Corrections secretary and not the board.
Lindsay Wallace, the former chief of staff for the Department of Corrections, was named the new secretary in February.
