(Little Rock) – As part of a widening legal battle between the Corrections Board and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders over prisons, an Arkansas judge threatened to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the state’s attorney general against the board he normally represents.
On Tuesday, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox criticized Attorney General Tim Griffin for filing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Board of Corrections without arranging for a special counsel to represent the panel. The judge said he’ll dismiss the lawsuit in 30 days if Griffin doesn’t reach an agreement with the board on a special counsel.
In its dispute with Sanders over who runs the prison system, Griffin accuses the panel of breaking the law by hiring an outside attorney.
In this case, Fox argues, the attorney general has sued his own clients, in violation of the duties and responsibilities entrusted to him by the Arkansas General Assembly.
Griffin said he and his office complied with all ethical obligations and would appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Griffin said in a statement that the court’s order clearly states that the Board of Corrections should have legal counsel. “There is no dispute about that. It is disputed whether the board has followed the legal requirements to obtain outside counsel.”
According to the board’s attorney, Abtin Mehdizadegan, Fox’s ruling “recognizes the extreme conflicts of interest presented by the attorney general’s retaliatory lawsuit against the board.”
“I expect that the issue of the attorney general’s ethics will continue to be the subject of close scrutiny,” he said in a statement.
Last week the board suspended state Corrections Secretary Joe Profiri and sued the state over a new law that took away the panel’s authority over Profiri and two other top officials. A judge on Friday issued a temporary order blocking the law and set a hearing for next week in the case. Griffin has asked the court to reconsider its order.
The dispute stems from the Sanders administration moving forward with opening temporary prison beds that the board has not approved. Members of the board have said opening the temporary beds would jeopardize the safety of inmates and staff.
The board said the blocked law, which would have taken its hiring and firing power over the corrections secretary and given it to the governor, violates Arkansas’ constitution. The blocked law also would have given the corrections secretary, not the board, hiring and firing authority over the correction and community correction division directors.
