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Rogers City Attorney To Step Down After Reaching Settlement

ROGERS (KFSM)- The Rogers City Attorney will step down once he gets his settlement check from the city, according to a statement made by an attorney with the Ar...
ROGERS CITY HALL

ROGERS (KFSM)- The Rogers City Attorney will step down once he gets his settlement check from the city, according to a statement made by an attorney with the Arkansas Municipal League at Tuesday (Jan. 27) night’s Rogers City Council meeting.

City Attorney Ben Lipscomb and the City of Rogers agreed to a $390,000 settlement, according to attorney John Wilkerson. Lipscomb will step down from his position as soon as he receives the check, which could happen as early as Wednesday (Jan. 28), Wilkerson told the city council.

The city council passed the settlement in a unanimous vote.

The city council also announced it will be turning the city attorney position into a ceremonial position because the city is required by law to have a city attorney. In the ceremonial position, the city attorney’s only duty will be to attend city council meetings, for which he or she will be paid a small stipend. According to the city council, staff attorneys will handle all other matters.

Lipscomb filed a lawsuit against Mayor Greg Hines and city council members in November 2014, saying they broke the law by passing an ordinance that stripped him of many of his duties.

On Sept. 23, the Rogers City Council approved an ordinance isolating the city attorney’s duties to prosecutorial matters only.

When Lipscomb was initially elected city attorney in 1997, the city attorney duties outlined by city ordinance included all civil and criminal matters, as well as representing the city and acting as a legal adviser on Rogers city issues, Lipscomb lawsuit stated. According to the suit, Lipscomb claimed his duties were stripped as “punishment,” although it did not go into detail.

Lipscomb was involved in a criminal investigation by a special prosecutor in August and September. Crawford County prosecutor Marc McCune investigated whether Lipscomb broke any laws by using a city badge to gain entry into a VIP tent at a Miranda Lambert concert over the summer at the Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers, according to investigation documents released by McCune’s office.

McCune announced Sept. 5 that Lipscomb would face no criminal charges in the matter. McCune was appointed as a special prosecutor in the case to avoid any conflicts of interest by local prosecutors.

The Rogers mayor and city council members filed statements in response to Lipscomb’s lawsuit saying that because Lipscomb doesn’t live in Rogers, he is ineligible to serve.

In December, Lipscomb sent a letter to local lawyers stating he is eliminating negotiated plea bargaining in Rogers District Court cases. Following the letter, then-Benton County Prosecutor-elect Nathan Smith decided not to commission Lipscomb as deputy prosecuting attorney in 2015, which meant Lipscomb would remain the elected city attorney, but wouldn’t have the authority to prosecute state offenses in Rogers District Court.

Lipscomb’s term as city attorney was supposed to end in 2016.

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