by Associated Press 7/21/2017 7:15 am
A former Arkansas Senate president who admitted spending more than $150,000 of campaign funds on personal items has been released from federal prison.
by Gwen Moritz 3/14/2016 12:00 am
Paul Bookout of Jonesboro, a former president pro tempore of the Arkansas Senate, will report to federal prison on May 2 to start serving an 18-month sentence for spending $150,000 in campaign contributions for personal benefit. It’s a shame he wasn’t a legislator 80 miles away in Mississippi.
by Associated Press 12/16/2015 8:44 am
A federal judge has scheduled a new sentencing date for a former Arkansas Senate president who pleaded guilty to spending more than $150,000 in campaign funds on personal items.
by Associated Press 11/17/2015 5:13 pm
A sentencing hearing for a former Arkansas lawmaker who pleaded guilty to spending more than $150,000 in campaign funds on personal items has been postponed.
by Gwen Moritz 3/11/2015 2:53 pm
Former state Sen. Paul Bookout pleaded guilty in federal court to a single count of mail fraud for misusing $150,000 in campaign contributions for personal benefit.
by Arkansas Business Editors 2/10/2014 12:00 am
It’s time to reconsider legislative compensation in Arkansas. We don’t know the perfect formula, but it needs to reward part-time work well enough that the right people can afford to do it.
by Blake Rutherford 1/29/2014 2:31 pm
The private option is the major issue facing the General Assembly in the upcoming fiscal session. The impact on the state economy and business climate will be significant, but the outlook for reauthorization is grim.
by Andrew DeMillo, The Associated Press 1/15/2014 2:27 pm
A Republican takeover of a northeast Arkansas state Senate seat dims the prospects for continuing the state's compromise Medicaid expansion plan and could be a troubling early sign for Democrats who had hoped to rebound from recent losses at the polls.
by Associated Press 1/15/2014 8:15 am
Republican John Cooper won a northeast Arkansas state Senate seat in a special election Tuesday, giving Republicans an extra seat in the Legislature. The race was widely viewed as a bellwether for this fall's political contests.
by Associated Press 1/8/2014 10:21 am
An attorney for former state Sen. Paul Bookout says the former lawmaker has begun refunding campaign contributions made by individuals to his 2012 re-election bid.
by Associated Press 1/6/2014 5:01 pm
Early voting is set to begin to fill a vacant state Senate seat from northeast Arkansas.
by Gwen Moritz 1/6/2014 12:00 am
I first introduced the Moritz Scale of Political Bad Behavior in 2009 as a handy way to bring some kind of context to political faux pas, which all start to assume cataclysmic proportions — especially on cable TV news and most especially in the news slump that surrounds the holidays. The color-coded scale was modeled after the Homeland Security Advisory System, which was subsequently discontinued, but I still like it.
by Associated Press 12/31/2013 9:28 am
The Democratic Party of Arkansas is calling on Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Darr to resign after the Ethics Commission said he agreed to pay $11,000 in fines to settle claims that he misspent campaign funds and failed to keep complete records.
by Chuck Bartels, The Associated Press 12/18/2013 3:53 pm
Lt. Gov. Mark Darr went before the Arkansas Ethics Commission on Wednesday to face allegations from the group that he improperly spent about $44,000 from his campaign and office accounts.
by Associated Press 11/18/2013 8:36 am
The attorney for former state Sen. Paul Bookout says the former lawmaker is set to return thousands of dollars in campaign contributions, while a criminal investigation continues into his personal use of campaign cash.
by Associated Press 11/12/2013 7:24 am
Voters in northeast Arkansas are choosing the Democratic and Republican nominees for a special election to replace a state senator who resigned amid an ethics investigation.Paul Bookout
by Associated Press 10/9/2013 7:15 am
A retired telephone company manager and a school district superintendent were the top vote-getters in a special election for an Arkansas Senate seat Tuesday, but neither candidate was able to exceed 50 percent of the total votes cast and will enter a runoff next month.Paul Bookout
by Andrew DeMillo, The Associated Press 9/18/2013 3:02 pm
Documents released by the Arkansas Ethics Commission show that a former state lawmaker who resigned over violations could only identify less than a quarter of the $63,000 his campaign spent as legitimately related to his re-election bid.
by Associated Press 9/13/2013 12:15 pm
State auditors have begun work on their annual review of Lt. Gov. Mark Darr's office, days after the Arkansas Ethics Commission said it was investigating his campaign spending.
by Associated Press 9/4/2013 4:58 pm
Three Republicans have filed to run for their party's nomination for a northeast Arkansas Senate seat vacated by a Democratic lawmaker who resigned over ethics violations.
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