Arkansas Supreme Court rules against Jeff Barrows

The nasty and public feud between former Fort Smith police officer Jeff Barrows and Fort Smith Police Chief Kevin Lindsey and the city of Fort Smith may be at a legal end courtesy of a ruling issued Thursday (Feb. 18) by the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Coincidentally, the ruling comes almost two years after the conflict resulted in the resignation of Fort Smith City Administrator Randy Reed.

Barrows had appealed an order of the Sebastian County Circuit Court that dismissed Barrows’ claim that his rights under the Arkansas Whistle-Blower’s Act were violated and dismissed Barrows’ request for a civil service appeal.

The Supreme Court’s ruling, in non-legalese, is a complete victory for Lindsey and the city of Fort Smith in that it rejected Barrows’ appeals in entirety. The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s ruling by confirming that Barrows did not file a timely civil service appeal, and confirmed summary judgment denying Barrows a jury trial on his whistle-blower claim. The summary judgement confirmation essentially means there are no significant facts that provide enough legal reason to proceed to a jury trial.

The Supreme Court noted: “There is simply no merit to Barrows’s contentions within his first two points on appeal. The circuit court reasoned that the determinative issue was whether the City had established an affirmative defense to the whistle-blower claim. Because the circuit court had previously ruled that Barrows violated multiple rules and policies, it was clear that his termination was the result of that misconduct and not related to any communication between Barrows and Administrator Reed. That previous ruling did, in fact, establish the City’s affirmative defense to the whistle-blower claim.”

The issue blew up in 2007 when the recently hired Lindsey and Barrows, who served as interim chief prior to Lindsey’s arrival, engaged in an internal power play that resulted in Barrows being fired. Then-City Administrator Randy Reed — who was the police chief prior to Lindsey — aligned with Barrows and sought Lindsey’s firing. The matter was further complicated because the City Director Velvet Barrows was married to Jeff Barrows.

Velvet Barrows eventually resigned from the board of directors, and Reed also resigned Feb. 20, 2008 when the city board failed to back his request to fire Lindsey.

Link here to a PDF copy of the Arkansas Supreme Court ruling.