LITTLE ROCK — An investigation into a southwest Arkansas landfill district found that $756,360 was misappropriated in a decade-long scheme perpetrated by the waste district’s former director, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
The inquiry into the Upper Southwest Arkansas Regional Solid Waste Management District implicated longtime Director Joe Ball, who retired last year, Howard County Prosecuting Attorney Bryan Chesshir said.
Chesshir told landfill officials at their most recent meeting that Ball was the target of the investigation and that charges are pending.
The prosecutor said he is working with the U.S. attorney’s office to determine whether charges should be pursued in state or federal court.
Checks made out to a “shell business,” SSR Consulting, were sent to a rural post office box, Chesshir said. Though a second person signed the checks, the prosecutor said, there’s “no indication that someone knowingly helped him facilitate this scheme.”
Ball’s attorney, Q. Byrum Hurst of Hot Springs, said his client cooperated in theinvestigation and has shown “very good character.”
Hurst declined to elaborate on the specifics of the case.
“I think when everything comes out we’ll see that Joe is still exemplifying the kind of person who has strong character,” Hurst said.
Ball, who now lives in Hot Springs, is a former Nashville mayor and served onthe state Ethics Commission from 2003-08.
Chesshir acknowledged that Ball cooperated with investigators, turning over a computer without a search warrant and providing information to new landfill officials to help in routine business.
Chesshir sought a criminal inquiry in July after the new executive director of the landfill, Max Tackett, reportedly found questionable spending practices.
Money was misappropriated from 1999 through part of 2009, when Ball relinquished his duties, Chesshir said.
The nine-county district operates a landfill in Howard County, about seven miles north of Nashville.
More details about the waste district’s finances are to be released Friday, when a state audit of the district’s spending is presented. It’s the first audit of the district since 2002, the prosecutor said.
The Legislative Joint Auditing Committee is to hear the findings at its regular meeting in Little Rock.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 01/07/2010