Clark ineligible to hold office, rulings indicate
Posted on Friday, March 21, 2008
A governor’s pardon wouldn’t make former Attorney General Steve Clark eligible to hold public office again in Arkansas, according to court rulings interpreting the state constitution.
Clark, convicted in 1990 of felony theft while serving as attorney general, said this week that he was considering running for mayor of Fayetteville this year.
Secretary of State Charlie Daniels’ office initially reported Wednesday that Clark’s right to hold office was restored with a 2004 pardon by former Gov. Mike Huckabee.
But Arkansas Supreme Court rulings indicate that a pardon alone wouldn’t make Clark eligible to hold office. In a 2005 ruling involving a former Dumas mayor, the high court relied on several previous decisions in stating that it is “the fact of conviction that disqualifies a person from holding public office.... Moreover, this type of disqualification cannot even be removed by pardon.”
Article 5, Section 9 of the Arkansas Constitution prohibits people convicted of “infamous crimes” from holding any office of trust in Arkansas. That has been interpreted by the Arkan- sas Supreme Court to mean any felony.
Tim Humphries, attorney for the secretary of state, said Thursday that an expungement of a conviction, which would have to come from a judge, would restore eligibility. But a pardon would not, he said.
Clark didn’t return telephone messages left at his home Thursday seeking information about whether he’d ever asked for his conviction to be expunged. It wasn’t clear in Pulaski County court records, either, whether he had ever sought an expungement.
Clark, a Democrat, was attorney general from 1979-90. He announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor in January 1990 to run against then-Gov. Bill Clinton, also a Democrat. But Clark aborted his campaign just weeks later after an Arkansas Gazette article stated that his office had spent $ 115, 000 on travel and meals. The article triggered an investigation of Clark’s use of a state-issued credit card.
Some of the names Clark listed as his business guests said they either had never dined with Clark or that the dinners did not involve any official business.
Clark was charged with felony theft. In November 1990, a Pulaski County Circuit Court jury convicted him of wrongfully charging less than $ 2, 500 for personal expenses. He resigned as attorney general.
He was not sentenced to prison but was fined $ 10, 000 and ordered to pay restitution and costs. The fine and court costs added up to $ 15, 907. 24, and Clark paid them.
He paid $ 3, 951 in restitution, but when state officials sued Clark in 1993 to recoup the unpaid $ 18, 484. 90 in restitution, they discovered that he had discharged the debt in bankruptcy.
Ten years later, after publicly apologizing numerous times and acknowledging that he made bad decisions partly because of an addiction to alcohol, Clark repaid the rest of the money to the state.
Huckabee, a Republican, said Clark had “gone beyond” what he legally had to do to make restitution, and so the governor pardoned Clark in February 2004. Huckabee said Clark “has done what he should morally.”
Clark said he has had the right to vote in Arkansas since he paid his fine.
He is registered to vote in Fayetteville, where he has lived since 2006.
He said Wednesday that he’s now an instructor for the Texasbased Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, which allows him to live in Fayetteville and travel for work. He is also paid to speak to groups about addiction, ethics and the law.
He has lived in Fayetteville before, first as a student and later as a faculty member of the University of Arkansas School of Law. Information for this article was contributed by John Lynch of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
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