FIRED OFFICER TO APPEAL DECISION

Jeff Harris, a Fort Smith police detective fired after failing a drug test,
is appealing his termination.

Attorney Chip Sexton, who represented Harris in a Nov. 29 disciplinary
hearing before the Fort Smith Civil Service Commission, issued a press
release announcing the appeal.

Harris, a six-year veteran with the Fort Smith Police Department, was fired
Oct. 22 after a random drug test detected the presence of the painkiller
Darvocet in his system.

Harris said he took a single pill, given to him by his sister, after he
complained of a headache. He said he thought he was taking a nonprescription
pain reliever.

The commission voted 4-1 to uphold Harris' termination.

Attorney Rick Wade, who represented the city at the hearing, said Arkansas
Code provides for an appeal of the Civil Service Commission decision to
Sebastian County Circuit Court.

Either party may appeal the circuit court's ruling to the Arkansas Supreme
Court, Wade said.

In his release, Sexton contrasted Harris' treatment with that received by
City Administrator Bill Harding, for whom city directors granted leave "to
attend to personal matters" Tuesday.

"Yet when Jeff Harris ... unknowingly took a single Darvocet pill that had
no effect on him, he was fired," Sexton wrote.

He said the decision to fire Harris "isn't fair, it isn't right, and it's a
waste of the money that the people of Fort Smith put into training this
officer."

Tuesday's decision to grant Harding leave came after an executive session
during the regular city directors' meeting. The stated purpose of the
executive session was to evaluate Harding's performance, a practice
typically performed at the end of the year.

Directors gave no further details about why the leave was requested or why
they granted it.