Fort Smith human resources director retires amid internal auditor hiring controversy
FORT SMITH, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The human resources director for Fort Smith, who has been recently involved in a controversy regarding the hiring and subsequent dismissal of an internal auditor, has retired.
Rick Lolley has served as the city's Chief Human Resources Officer since 2018. The city announced on Saturday that Lolley's retirement was effective immediately.
'Rick Lolley has demonstrated considerable experience and instilled a level of professionalism in the city's Human Resources Department over his seven years as its department head,' Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman said in a news release. 'I wish Rick well as he moves on.'
The announcement comes after the Board of Directors voted to hire Rebecca Cowan as internal auditor on April 22. Two days later, the board changed course after it was revealed that Cowan faced a felony stalking charge.
Fort Smith-based attorneys Joey McCutchen and Stephen Napurano filed the lawsuit against the city on May 2 after claiming Fort Smith failed to provide all public records related to the hiring of Cowan.
The City of Fort Smith told Talk Business & Politics, 'Human Resources produced the background check and relayed the information to Administration per City protocol.'
Judge rules City of Fort Smith violated Freedom of Information Act following failed hire
Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman, in an email to McCutchen, said, 'The background check information was delivered in hard copy. That record no longer exists. The Chief Human Resources Officer does not have a copy of the packet that was delivered. There is no hard copy.'
An email from Dingman, not included in the city's FOIA response, was later obtained directly from a board member, according to the lawsuit. This email stated that Dingman 'did not believe a background check was performed.'
The lawsuit also alleged the city failed to respond in a timely manner and may have withheld or destroyed public records.
On June 3, the judge assigned to the lawsuit ruled in favor of McCutchen and Napurano during a hearing.
An order, officially filed on June 5, said 'The Defendants' failure to timely respond, thefailure to provide clearly responsive records, the absence of any valid extension or waiver, and the troubling lack of transparency regarding the missing background check' were reasons as to why the city was ruled to have violated the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
'The Court is troubled by the timeline of events, the lack of transparency demonstrated by the City of Fort Smith and City Administrator Jeff Dingman, and by the missing background check which, according to the testimony, was provided by Mr. Rick Lolley to Mr. Jeff Dingman but was neither preserved nor produced in response to the FOIA request,' the judge said in the order.
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