Special prosecutor requested to investigate Benton County sheriff

Photo by Jason Ivester Benton County Sheriff Kelley Cradduck in an August 2015 file photo.
Photo by Jason Ivester Benton County Sheriff Kelley Cradduck in an August 2015 file photo.

BENTONVILLE -- Benton County Prosecutor Nathan Smith has asked for a special prosecutor to oversee an investigation into criminal allegations against Sheriff Kelley Cradduck.

"I requested a formal investigation to be completed by the Arkansas State Police. The investigation is in the final stages or complete. I have also requested a special prosecutor from outside my office be appointed to decide whether any charges will be filed. I want to stress that, like anyone else, the sheriff is innocent until proven guilty," Smith said.

Rules of professional conduct prevent him from discussing any details of the allegations or the investigation, Smith said.

Cradduck didn't respond Friday to voice mail messages and text messages sent to his county cell phone.

Also Friday, a second grievance was filed with Benton County by a Sheriff's Office employee alleging wrongful demotion and claiming protection under the Arkansas Whistle-Blower Act. Capt. Jeremy Guyll, who was the captain over the jail, filed the grievance.

Guyll claims in his filing he was wrongly demoted because he reported to the Arkansas State Police that Cradduck ordered Robin Holt to falsify the time and pay records of Gabriel Cox, a newly hired employee at the jail. County employment records, obtained under the state's Freedom of Information Act, show when Cox was hired he listed as his place of residence the same Rogers address listed for Cradduck.

Holt, a former lieutenant in the jail, filed a grievance Thursday with the county, which claims Cradduck wrongfully demoted her after she refused to falsify payroll records and reported Cradduck's order to a superior.

Holt said in her complaint she was twice interviewed by a State Police investigator, and, when Cradduck learned of the investigation and her possible involvement, she was demoted to deputy and her pay reduced. Holt seeks to have her rank and pay reinstated.

No date has been set for either grievance hearing.

After being read sections of Holt's filing Thursday, Cradduck denied any involvement with Cox's records or having investigated Holt in connection with the State Police inquiry.

"I launched no investigation into anything," he said Thursday. "I never spoke to her about any employee's records. I don't sign time sheets. I don't get involved in that."

Smith said he has seen the grievance filed by Holt, but could not comment on it.

There will not be a set time for the special prosecutor to complete his work, other than observing guidelines of the statute of limitations, Smith said. A judge will appoint the special prosecutor.

Cradduck ordered the records to be backdated to the week prior to Cox being hired so Cox would be paid for time he was not employed, according to Holt and Guyll. Holt allegedly reported Cradduck's order to Guyll, telling him she was refusing to comply with the order, and Guyll supported her in that decision and notified the State Police.

Guyll is on medical leave, his filing states, and has received no notice of his demotion. However, the grievance says Cradduck sent an email to employees of the Sheriff's Office on Tuesday announcing Jeff Robbins had been promoted to jail captain.

"Sheriff Cradduck has not notified Captain Guyll that he is being transferred, demoted or terminated," the filing states. "Captain Guyll has been informed by way of rumor that he will be demoted by Sheriff Cradduck. Based on the October 27, 2015, email it is clear that Captain Guyll will not resume his duties as captain over the jail upon return from his medical leave."

Guyll's grievance states on Oct. 13, Cradduck was interviewed at his home by the State Police. That day, the grievance states, Cradduck called Guyll telling him he had just been interviewed. Cradduck was "extremely mad and asked what Captain Guyll knew about the investigation," the grievance states.

Cradduck sent Guyll and other employees a text message after his interview "stating he was going to put the employees 'on the box,' a term referring to polygraph testing, so he can determine the identity of the whistleblowers," according to the filing.

The grievance states attorneys representing Guyll and Holt "and the other whistleblowers" met with George Spence, Benton County attorney, "advising him of this threat."

"After our meeting with the Benton County attorney, Sheriff Cradduck sent another text recanting his threat and stating that when he threatened to put the employees 'on the box' he was only 'joking,'" the grievance states. "They (were) in no way delivered as a joke. Captain Guyll understood the text to be a threat and believed that he would be subjected to polygraph testing. Only after our meeting with the County Attorney did the threat become a 'joke.'"

Spence said he hadn't yet reviewed Guyll's grievance and he wouldn't comment on it.

Guyll's grievance also claims Cradduck called Guyll into his office Oct. 14 and ordered Guyll to tell him everything about the investigation. Cradduck told Guyll "if the sheriff lost his job over the investigation then Captain Guyll would also lose his job," according to the grievance.

Guyll's grievance also makes reference to a 10-second video of Holt that Cradduck said Thursday is the basis for her demotion. Holt's attorney has confirmed the person in the recording is Holt.

"There is a video of her, in uniform and at the jail, making light of rape victims," Cradduck said Thursday. "That's not the kind of person we want in a position of authority at the jail. She's in uniform and at the jail. I can't overlook that. There was some discussion about whether to fire her or demote her, and I decided to let her keep her job."

Guyll's grievance states he made the video recording and sent it to two employees of the Sheriff's Office and to Cradduck's wife, Sabrina Cradduck. The grievance states employees routinely communicated with Cradduck through his wife.

"Captain Guyll received a text message response from Sabrina Cradduck's telephone number indicating she found the video to be funny," the grievance says. The video was in no way inappropriate or derogatory, it says.

Guyll's grievance states he never released the video to anyone outside the Sheriff's Office.

"The only person responsible for releasing the video outside the Sheriff's Office is the sheriff," the grievance states.

Guyll seeks to have his position reinstated pending the outcome of his grievance hearing.

Barb Ludwig, Benton County's human resources administrator, said Thursday that county policy is to schedule grievance hearings within 14 days of the filing.

Grievance hearing

Benton County officials are working to set hearing dates for two grievances filed by employees of the Sheriff's Office who claim they were wrongly demoted by Sheriff Kelley Cradduck. The county's Grievance Council will hear the grievances and decide if the employees have proven they were improperly deprived of their rights. The panel's ruling is only advisory, according to Barb Ludwig, human resources administrator, and cannot compel Cradduck to change his decision.

Source: Staff report

General News on 11/04/2015