BENTON COUNTY (KFSM) — A former Benton County Sheriff’s Office deputy was arrested Monday (June 6) on suspicion of using a database which can only be accessed by current law enforcement officers for his private business.
Robert Hendrix, 42, is facing a felony charge of misuse of ACIC, according to Benton County Jail records.
He was cited out on his own recognizance at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday (June 8).
Hendrix is accused of using Justice Exchange, which is a database linked with ACIC/NCIC, that stores sensitive information like driver’s license information and photos, date of birth, social security number, address and criminal history, according to his probable cause affidavit.
The database requires law enforcement credentials to obtain an account and the information stored on Justice Exchange cannot be released to the general public or used in a non-law enforcement capacity.
Hendrix had been using the credentials he once had as a deputy with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office to regularly access Justice Exchange for his company called One Twin Legal Service, LLC, the affidavit states. According to the company’s Facebook page, One Twin Legal Service offers process serving and private investigation services.
Records showed Hendrix had been terminated from the Benton County Sheriff’s Office in December 2014, but his Justice Exchange account and email had not been deactivated by IT, according to the affidavit.
According to ACIC records, Hendrix had used his law enforcement account 246 times to access personal information and investigators were told he had been charging his clients $100 to search Justice Exchange records, the affidavit states.
Investigators interviewed Hendrix’s associate, who was also a former law enforcement officer, about Hendrix’s use of Justice Exchange.
That associate told investigators he had told Hendrix on several occasions that his use of Justice Exchange as a civilian was illegal, according to the affidavit. The associate recalled that Hendrix had mentioned an incident where the Fayetteville Police Department linked Hendrix to Justice Exchange printouts, but Hendrix was confident nothing would come of it, the affidavit states.
Investigators interviewed Hendrix, who admitted he had used Justice Exchange and had accepted payment for being able to access it, according to the affidavit.
Records show the Benton County Sheriff’s Office investigation into Hendrix was initiated June 6 after the Fayetteville Police Department contacted the sheriff’s office regarding Hendrix’s misuse of Justice Exchange.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office told 5NEWS they are investigating why Hendrix’s credentials were not deactivated when he was terminated.
