By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said today he has advised the retirement system for state workers to investigate and try to recoup money paid to any elected officials found to be improperly collecting retirement benefits and a paycheck.

McDaniel also suggested in an interview that because some members of the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System’s board are employed, yet also draw retirement benefits, they should refrain from voting on any matters involving the issue.

Last month, Rep. Allen Kerr, R-Little Rock, asked the Bureau of Legislative Audit to gather the names of every elected official in the state who are drawing retirement benefits and a paycheck for the same job.

Auditors are researching records going back 10 years.

Kerr said he asked for the information after receiving an attorney general’s opinion last month that said such a practice, known as double dipping, is illegal.

While state auditors comb through retirement records provided by APERS, McDaniel said Gail Stone, the director of the retirement system, asked his office for advice on what to do when possible violators are named in newspaper articles or mentioned by lawmakers.

McDaniel said today he told Stone that “when some issue is brought to (her) attention, through the media, the Legislature or any other authority” the system should investigate and, if necessary, take any corrective action, including recovery of improperly paid benefits.

“I don’t think they have any choice, they have to conduct an inquiry,” McDaniel said.

Stone said today that her office is looking at three Garland County officeholders, Circuit Clerk Vicki Rama, Treasurer Jo West-Taylor and Assessor Brenda Short, because their names have surfaced as officials who took themselves off the payroll from September to November last year to file for retirement and then returned to work in their elected offices.

“Of course we will be looking at those directly,” Stone said, adding that any names provided to her office by auditors also will be researched.

Stone said she plans to discuss the issue and how her office plans to research the various cases at a meeting of the APERS board Aug. 19.

Kerr said today he was pleased the retirement system would investigate names as they come up.
“I think it’s going to be very helpful to clear them or determine what needs to be done with them,” he said about elected officials who may be double dipping.
The lawmaker said he expects state auditors to have a completed list of possible violators later this month.

McDaniel said he told Stone that if her department determines that a person is improperly receiving benefits, she should present the facts and the controlling law to the system’s board of directors so that it can make a final decision.