No criminal charges will be filed against University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff current or former staff as a result of an Arkansas State Police investigation into the findings of an internal audit, Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney S. Kyle Hunter announced Thursday.
“This just vindicates what I said from the beginning which is that we did nothing wrong,” then-chancellor Lawrence A. Davis Jr. said Thursday afternoon after being told of Hunter’s findings. “We did what needed to be done for the students living in those horrible conditions at the Harrold Dorm Complex.”
The internal audit was released Feb. 22 by the University of Arkansas System regarding expenditures and other issues at the UAPB Harrold Dorm Complex.
Hunter said in a press release Thursday that he requested the State Police investigation to determine whether public funds had been misappropriated, wasted or abused and if so, whether any crimes had been committed.
The U of A System internal audit was unable to verify payroll expenses totaling $497,532 and vendor disbursements totaling $297,348 related to the Harrold Complex.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Hunter’s findings
Hunter said in a news release that the internal audit raised questions about the renovation project at the Harrold Complex because the expenditures for it were not processed through the university’s existing purchasing and accounts payable departments.
Hunter said that Davis put Rita Ticey in charge of the renovation project and directed Ticey to use money held in the UAPB Title III Endowment Agency Account for the project.
“Ms. Ticey would simply request supplies from vendors or services from contractors as she determined appropriate for the project and then request payment through the Title III Account without going through the normal spending process,” Hunter said in the release. “Chancellor Davis believed that the Title III Account could be used in this way because the only restriction on the money was that it be used for educational purposes. However, the audit could not verify that the Title III Account money was properly spent due to a lack of documentation used by this method of spending.”
Hunter said that the State Police investigation focused on payments to vendors and service providers made through the Title III Account for the Harrold Complex and payments to students working at the Harrold Complex.
“The audit raised concern because the normal spending process was not used with the Title III Account,” Hunter said. “This issue was problematic in the investigation as well but investigators were able to verify that vendors and service providers did supply the requested items or service and they were paid pursuant to their agreements with Ms. Ticey. The investigation revealed numerous suspicious time sheets of students working at the Harrold Complex and a lack of supervision and management of said students, but nothing to justify criminal charges.”
Hunter said that the investigation also addressed reimbursement payments directly to Rita Ticey through the Title III Account that were not supported by proper documentation.
“Ms. Ticey did note on her reimbursement requests a reason for the payments in general terms but receipts were not provided,” Hunter said in the release. “Taking into account the entire Harrold Complex renovation project and the amount of money spent, there is not sufficient evidence to establish that Ms. Ticey committed a theft by reimbursing herself for undocumented expenses totaling $3,619.22.”
Davis’ reaction
Davis sees Hunter’s decision as a vindication of his position on the issue.
“This is what I have said from the beginning,” Davis said after being told of Hunter’s findings. “There was no way I would have sat there and let illegal things go on. We did not follow university procedures, that is true, but we were dealing with an emergency situation in that dorm [Harrold Complex].”
“We had six weeks to address those problems,” Davis said. “We just had to spend the money to take care of that situation. I wasn’t trying to hide anything from anybody. This has all been really devastating for me. It has also been devastating to Miss Ticey. She has been blackballed and has had trouble finding another job. She lost her insurance.”
Chancellor Johnson
UAPB interim chancellor Calvin Johnson sees Hunter’s decision not to file criminal charges as a chance for the university community to move forward and put this chapter of the school’s history behind it.
“The decision rendered by the prosecuting attorney today has brought this process to a point of closure and has opened the gates so that we can go ahead and get some things done that we need to do,” Johnson said.