SEIZED CARS SOLD PRIVATELY --- TO SHERIFF'S KIN

St. Francis County Sheriff Dave Parkman has found a convenient way to get
rid of the cars his officers seize from drug dealers: Sell them to family
members and his employees.

Those who have benefited include the sheriff himself and both his daughters.

Parkman says he sees nothing wrong with selling the autos without holding a
public auction.

Others aren't so sure.

State Sen. Wayne Dowd, D-Texarkana, who recently pushed for reforms in the
state's forfeiture laws, doesn't think law enforcement officers should
privately sell property to friends and family.

"It's not in the public's interest," Dowd says. "It's not good public
policy. It ought to be a public sale, with a public notice, and the highest
bidder gets it. Otherwise, it has the appearance of corruption."

Parkman may have violated state law when he bought one of the cars for
himself. An Arkansas law, approved in 1977, that governs the ethics of
elected officials states that a county sheriff may not "be a purchaser at
any sale nor a vendor of any purchase made by him in his official capacity."

This March, Parkman paid $1,000 for a 1986 Oldsmobile Toronado with 110,060
miles. He says he bought the car during a public auction and had a friend
make the bid so as not to influence the bidding. The Kelley Blue Book
reports that such a car, without air conditioning, radio or any other
extras, has a retail value of $2,330.

"I guess that was ignorance on my part,'' says Parkman in reference to the
state law forbidding his purchase.

State law also was amended in 1989 to require that forfeited property "be
sold at a public sale to the highest bidder, and if not sold at public sale,
the court may permit a private sale."

Parkman says he's had no complaints about the private sales he's conducted
for years. The county judges routinely, in their court orders forfeiting
property, give the sheriff the discretion to sell the property during a
public or private sale.

"I've never had any flak over it from anyone,'' says Parkman, who is in his
13th year as sheriff.

The money from the sale goes into a special fund that is distributed to the
St. Francis County prosecutor's office and back to the sheriff's office for
law-enforcement purposes.

Parkman says that, during private sales, he sells the cars for at least 75
percent of their appraised value to make sure he complies with state law.

St. Francis County Assessor Edgar Borden appraises the cars, some of which
have been dismantled by officers in search of drugs.

"I try to appraise them pretty much [at] what they are worth,'' Borden says.

Between January 1998 and March 1999, the sheriff sold 25 cars. Of those, 14
were sold privately. The sheriff raised $5,605 selling cars during auctions
and $24,534 through private sales.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette found 10 instances where Parkman sold vehicles
to county workers, family members, other police officials or himself in the
past three years. Only three of those sales occurred during public auctions.

The sheriff sold a car to each of his daughters privately.

One daughter, Susie Jones, got a 1991 Chevrolet pickup with 74,968 miles for
$2,850. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette couldn't determine the type of pickup
she bought, or the proper retail value.

The sheriff's other daughter, Martie Ramsey, bought a 1989 Oldsmobile
Toronado with 58,034 miles on it for $1,500. The Kelley Blue Book says such
a car, without any extras, should retail for $4,015.

Parkman says he sells the cars privately some of the time because it takes a
while to seize enough vehicles to hold a public auction.

"If they just sit there, they deteriorate and get their windows knocked
out,'' Parkman says.

He says he likes to have at least 10 cars for an auction to raise enough to
pay the cost of the advertising and to pay the auctioneer.

Others who have made purchases include:

David Courtney, the St. Francis County constable, an elected position,
bought two cars during an auction. He took home a 1983 Oldsmobile Regency
for $250 and a 1980 Ford for $300.

Glenn Ramsey, the chief criminal investigator for the sheriff's office,
bought during a private sale a 1979 Chevrolet Blazer for $412.50.

Otis Smith, the sheriff's jailer, privately bought a 1990 Lincoln
Continental for $2,246.25.

Joy Hancock, a deputy sheriff, privately bought a 1983 Chevrolet pickup for
$600.

J.A. Elliott, while based in Crittenden County as the head of Troop D of the
State Police Highway Patrol, picked up a 1991 Dodge Dynasty and a 1983 Ford
pickup for his daughters during private sales. Elliott, now a major, has
since been reassigned to Little Rock.

Parkman's nephew, Bobby Morphis, privately bought a 1976 Corvette two or
three years ago, the sheriff said. Now a deputy for Parkman, he did not work
for the sheriff at the time of the sale, Morphis said.