Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — The chairman of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said Friday that allegations of illegal activity made by former chairman Sheffield Nelson in a lawsuit against the agency “are mistaken and apparently based on misinformation.”
Craig Campbell also said commission actions alleged to be illegal in the lawsuit date back to 1979, before Nelson served on the commission.
Nelson served on the panel from 2000 to 2007.
“His lawsuit certainly is not in the best interest of this commission, its employees or the citizens of Arkansas,” Campbell said in a news release.
On Thursday, Nelson sued the commission in Pulaski County Circuit Court alleging the panel is illegally controlled by three members.
Nelson said the commission in June restructured its committee system in a way that allows for three members — Campbell, Emon Mahony and Rick Watkins — to sit on all major committees.
The lawsuit contends creation of the new committee structure violates Amendment 35 to the state constitution.
Under Amendment 35, which voters approved in 1944 to create the Game and Fish Commission, the commission must be governed by commissioners representing each of the state’s four congressional districts.
Campbell said Friday that the seven commissioners are “unanimous in our dedication to the principles of integrity, accountability and transparency.”
“We are unified in our belief that the AGFC long-established rules of procedure, which we recently amended for the proper conduct of commission business, ensure that these principles are strictly and consistently applied,” Campbell said.
