LITTLE ROCK — Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson accomplished a small feat Thursday when the state Legislative Auditing Committee on Counties and Municipalities tabled action on findings against the county nearly two years ago.
A state audit found that the Jefferson County Quorum Court went into executive session during a Dec. 12, 2022, meeting to review the 2021 audit in noncompliance with the Arkansas Code; the meeting minutes did not document the review of the audit and its findings; the county sold two road department trucks and a street sweeper at a public auction without advertising and including required information in a court order describing the property sold; and that the county received $376,650 for a road work project on March 8, 2021, while invoices for the completed project totaled $415,011. The project was completed in May 2022.
The audit also found that $207,313 restricted for sheriff communication purposes were expended for food purchases. Sheriff Lafayette Woods Jr. responded to the claims during the hearing.
Committee members tabled any recommendations against the county until their September meeting, giving Robinson and the Quorum Court an opportunity to address the findings at their Aug. 12 meeting.
Most of the justices of the peace have reported difficulty in working with Robinson over the past two years, accusing the judge of numerous acts of wrongdoing. Both sides have often issued dueling agendas and rarely executed county business without agreeing to rules of procedure, as is usually done at the start of a calendar year.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Stating he was pleased with the hearing, Robinson did not expect any penalty to arise.
“It takes all of us wanting to work together,” Robinson said. “I think you have been in enough of our meetings to see that it is dysfunctional. There are those who are not willing to work with my office or work with me, but I will try to do everything in my power to try to make sure we get on board and get on track. I’ll do my part. The deal is, under the advisement of the committee, I’ll make sure that happens.”
District 5 Justice Lloyd Franklin II, who has often opposed Robinson on a number of issues, submitted a two-page letter to committee chairman Sen. Mark Johnson (R-Little Rock) outlining accusations against the county judge, including fraudulent accounting and theft of public funds, abuse of power and retaliation and misallocation of county resources.
Robinson said during his testimony he was blindsided by the accusations from Franklin until the latter handed him a copy of the letter.
Robinson also scanned a nine-page violations narrative from Franklin, calling some of the allegations defamatory. The list of 21 allegations include extortion against the Quorum Court and illegal spending, nonbidding or improper bidding and misuse and misspending of federal covid-19 response grants.
“There are deceptive statements in this document, not only referring to me but referring to these vendors,” Robinson said. “I think Justice Franklin needs to be very leery of making accusations toward public vendors who are providing services, especially when they are not correct.”
Committee members denied Franklin’s request to testify to the allegations against Robinson, a decision that the justice said left him in shock.
“I followed what the chairman or the person who was the chairman at the previous meeting told us to do,” Franklin said. “We followed the instructions and reported back. It seems like we were either kicked back to the end of the line or moved to a different area in which they would like for us to maneuver in. It felt like it was preplanned. There was no concern over the oversight or any issues we have submitted to the legislative audit.”
Abtin Mehdizadegan, a Little Rock attorney advising the Quorum Court, was present at the hearing and consulted with Franklin after the hearing.
“I was hoping to gain clarity as to what this matter is all about,” Mehdizadegan said, adding he also has interest in a case heard earlier involving findings of nine duplicate payments totaling more than $132,000 to a mowing company by Lonoke County officials.
“On the one hand, what you heard from Lonoke County was at a very granular level,” the attorney said. “These folks were trying to negotiate terms of a contract for the mowing of a right-of-way. For what it’s worth, everyone agrees it’s been done. On the other hand, there is legitimate evidence and concern that Gerald Robinson is stealing money and corrupt, whether it’s indirect or direct, through political friends or political favors. And they won’t do anything about it and pat Justice Franklin on the head — if they’re tall enough to do that because he’s quite tall — and say, ‘Why don’t send an email? Why don’t you make a phone call?’
“At the same time, they’re willing to literally get in the weeds to try to negotiate the terms of the contract for the mowing and weed-eating.”
By nature, Mehdizadegan said, the committee gets into actions of county government through an audit, countering a claim a committee co-chairman made when dismissing Franklin’s complaints against Robinson.
“They just don’t care about Jefferson County. That’s what’s apparent to me,” Mehdizadegan said.
Franklin said all 13 justices of the peace are committed to attending any meeting with Robinson.
“The Arkansas Constitution gives him the power to call a Quorum Court meeting. He can call any special Quorum Court meeting he so chooses, and we attend.”
Committee members could have made criminal prosecution referrals against Robinson, Mehdizadegan said. In fact, they should have, he stressed.
“He doesn’t care. He acts with impunity,” Mehdizadegan charged as Robinson walked by.
“We will pursue justice in every corner of the state wherever we can find it, whether it’s in court, whether it’s in administrative (committee),” the lawyer added. “We have a lot of work to do in Jefferson County to repair the damage caused by Gerald Robinson, and we will continue to do that.”
Lloyd Franklin II
Sheriff Lafayette Woods Jr.