COURT CUTS OFF FUNDING FOR CONTROVERSIAL ARK. DRUG UNIT

Seven Will Lose Jobs In Push For Accountability From Crittenden County Sheriff

Crittenden County Sheriff Dick Busby has notified seven department
employees that they will lose their jobs at the end of June due to a
funding cutback.

The Crittenden County Quorum Court voted 10-1 Tuesday to cut off funding
for the sheriff's drug task force. Officers in the unit stop highway
traffic in their search for illegal drugs and cash. The unit is currently
being investigated for suspected cash-skimming.

Three West Memphis drug interdiction officers were fired last year for
violating departmental policies regarding seized cash after two of them
were caught in FBI sting operations. No one has been charged.

The sheriff's and West Memphis drug interdiction officers work separately.
Together they have seized $5.4 million in the past 2 years. Busby's short
letter reads in part: "Due to the decision of the Quorum Court on May 28,
2002, not to fund the Crittenden County Drug Task Force after June 30,
2002, it will be necessary to terminate the following personnel presently
being paid from the Drug Task Force budget."

It then names Mickey Thornton, the unit's commander, and six employees,
including two that patrol the interstates.

Busby was not available Wednesday to elaborate.

Donna Kane, the task force secretary and an 11-year employee of the
Sheriff's Department, said the decision was disheartening.

"It's not a good feeling," she said. "I haven't done anything wrong."

Justice of the Peace Vickie Robertson, whose position is equivalent to a
county commissioner's, said Busby's action indicates he doesn't plan to
provide county lawmakers with the accounting they've repeatedly requested.

She said she proposed cutting the annual $488,811 budget to $210,000 almost
halfway through the fiscal year "to make the sheriff understand we want
some accountability."

Robertson said other requests for information from the sheriff have been
ignored or produced "hogwash."

"We have just not gotten clear answers," she said.

The money seized from suspected drug couriers is typically forfeited in a
civil lawsuit, and proceeds are divided between the arresting agency, the
prosecuting attorney's office and the state crime lab. Crittenden County
government received $551,211 in drug forfeiture money last year, records show.