The Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission could not properly verify $485 in credit card purchases over the past two years, said a new Legislative Audit report released today. The report covered the period up to June 30, 2007. Deputy Legislative Auditor Ronald Burch said he also looked into records up to March of this year, when Dushun Scarbrough became the commission’s new executive director, and found no additional discrepancies. Charges that Legislative Audit found to be of dubious business purpose included purchases of meals, software, storage boxes and a hotel stay in West Memphis.
This is a fairly mild finding that should cause the MLK Commission — and some who have left the commission over the past two years — to breath a sigh of relief. Current Executive Director Scarbrough gave the commission’s testimony at a Legislative Joint Auditing Committee meeting, but to the side of the room sat Sen. Tracy Steele and Jerelyn Duncan, both of whom ran the commission at some point during the investigation’s focus period. Odd that they would not be called to testify. Burch said it’s standard practice to have only current commission heads come before the Audit Committee.
More coverage of King Commission bickering here.