BUDGET SLASH SPELLS END OF 'BLACK EYE' DRUG FORCE

MARION, Ark. - Calling it an embarrassment and a "black eye,'' the
Crittenden County Quorum Court debated disbanding the county's drug
task force Tuesday, then voted instead to cut off more than half its
annual budget.

The 10-0 vote will have the practical effect of ending the sheriff's
department's controversial interstate interdiction effort by the end
of June.

The sheriff's drug task force is separate from one operated by the
West Memphis Police Department. The FBI is investigating both to see
if officers have been skimming some of the money confiscated from
vehicles they stop on the Crittenden County interstates.

Three West Memphis police officers were fired last year for violating
policies regarding seized cash, including two who were caught in FBI
stings. No one has been charged, and U.S. Atty. H. E. 'Bud' Cummins
has declined comment on the ongoing probe.

Sheriff Dick Busby said shortly after Tuesday's vote that he assumed
the county's program would end without the continued funding for
deputies' salaries. "I don't think they'll work for nothing,'' he
said.

The overall Crittenden County drug interdiction effort, including the
West Memphis Police Department's caseload, has resulted in cash
seizures of more than $5.4 million in the past 2d years, or slightly
more than half of all the cash seized statewide during that period.

Crittenden County government received $551,211 in drug forfeiture
money last year, records show.

On a motion from Justice of the Peace Vickie Robertson, whose
position is equivalent to a county commissioner's, the Quorum Court
voted to cut appropriated funds for the task force from $488,811 to
$210,000 for the fiscal year that's already nearly half over.

County Treasurer Larry Miller said the vote effectively "eliminates
the program . . . eliminates the jobs.'' Miller said he would talk to
Busby to make necessary adjustments to pay vacation hours and other
expenses before the program shuts down.

The sheriff's drug task force is overseen by a supervising sheriff's
deputy while two deputies work the interstate. Another deputy
associated with the interdiction programrecently left the department
for another job.

The compromise motion Tuesday passed following a debate on a motion
by Justice Vera Simonetti to disband the task force "as of today.''

Simonetti said newspaper stories about the federal probe reflected
badly on local law enforcement.

"I don't want to be a party to it,'' she said. "This is unfair to the
people of this county. It's embarrassing.''

Justice L. D. Callan agreed. "We are getting an awful bad black eye,'' he said.

Although Simonetti's motion got the required second from Robertson,
it was later withdrawn in favor of the funding cut-off. A formal
ordinance for what Miller called "an appropriation amendment in
reverse'' will be considered at the June meeting.

Justice Jim Turner said that he had been disappointed with the task
force's compliance with requests from the Quorum Court for reports of
confiscated cash and property.

Pros. Atty. Brent Davis in Jonesboro said he wasn't familiar with the
court's vote Tuesday and declined comment on its financial impact.