ELECTRONICALLY FILED

Pulaski County Circuit Court

Larry Crane, Circuit/County Clerk
2018-Jul-05 08:42:53
60CV-18-3661
C06D05 : 8 Pages
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF PULASKI COUNTY, ARKANSAS
FIFTH DIVISION

RUSSELL R. RACOP PLAINTIFF

VS. CASE NO. 60CV-18-3661

CHIEF KENTON TREMAR BUCKNER, in his official capacity DEFENDANT

as custodian of certain records

AMENDED MOTION FOR CONTEMPT

COMES, the Plaintiff, Russell R. Racop, appearing pro se, and for his Amended

Motion for Contempt states:

1. On Friday June 30, 2018, the Court issued an Order directing Defendant to comply with

Plaintiffs request for photographs of uniformed, plain clothed, non-undercover officers.

The order directed that the photographs shall be made available by the Defendant to the

Plaintiff no later than 4:00 p.m. that date. See Exhibit A.

2. At approximately 3:49 p.m., Deputy City Attorney Rick D. Hogan sent Plaintiff an

email in which he stated a disk with the photos was en route to his office and that he

would send another email when the disk was in his possession for delivery. Hogan further

stated that he was filing an affidavit of compliance with the Courts order with Circuit

Clerk’s office and attached a copy of the affidavit. See Exhibit B. It must be pointed out

that Hogan in the email asked Plaintiff if he “wished to pick the disk up this afternoon”,

1
 even thought he was present in Court and heard Judge Griffen direct the Defendant to

turn over the photos to Plaintiff by 4:00 p.m. and for both parties to provide a written

statement to the Court that the transfer had taken place.

3. At approximately 3:50 p.m. the Plaintiff responded to Hogan’s email advising him that

he was headed downtown to retrieve a separate AFOIA response from the Little Rock

Police Department from a request made on May 11, 2018 and not related to this matter

See Exhibit C.

4. At approximately 3:55 p.m. as the Plaintiff was leaving his residence City Attorney

Tom Carpenter called and stated that they had 443 pictures of officers on CD’s but that

they were missing 75 photos from two recruit classes and he was told that they were on

a different server from the 443 photos they had ready to turn over. Carpenter further

stated that the missing 75 photos could not be produced until a later date. Carpenter also

stated that the CD’s were going to be delivered to the courthouse. Plaintiff advised that

the order specified that they were to be handed over to him directly. Carpenter said he

would check and call Plaintiff back. The conversation was recorded. See Exhibit D

which is stored in the safe in Central Receiving of the Circuit Clerk’s office. It must be

pointed out that at no time did Carpenter, nor Hogan, advise the Plaintiff that they had

contacted the Court to advise that they would not be able to comply with its Order or

that the Court had granted an extension to Defendant or his attorneys to produce the

officer photographs the Court had ordered them to turn over to the Plaintiff by 4:00 p.m.

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 Friday, June 29, 2018.

5. At approximately 3:56 p.m., Hogan sent a second email in which he advised that the

CD’s would be at the front desk and that he had filed an affidavit with the Court. See

Exhibit E.

6. At approximately 3:59 p.m., Carpenter called Plaintiff a second time and stated that

the CD’s were at his office. The conversation was recorded. See Exhibit F, which is

stored in the safe in Central Receiving of the Circuit Clerk’s office.

7. Plaintiff arrived at Little Rock City Hall at approximately 4:10 p.m. and after going

through security procedures proceeded to the offices of the City Attorney on the third

floor of City Hall.

8. At the office of the City Attorney, Plaintiff introduced himself to the receptionist and at

approximately 4:23 p.m. Hogan came to the receptionist area and handed Plaintiff an

envelope with the writing “All photo’s in Ref to F.O.I # 0367”. The envelope contained

two CD’s, one marked “L.R.P.D. Pictures” and the other had no notations on it. See

Exhibit F. Hogan also provided Plaintiff with a copy of a letter address to the Honorable

Wendell Griffen and an affidavit of Angela Everett, a Sergeant with the Little Rock

Police Department assigned to administration in Chief Kenton Tremar Buckner’s office.

See Exhibits G, H and I.

9. As Plaintiff and Deputy City Attorney Hogan were speaking, City Attorney Tom

Carpenter came out to the receptionist area and both he and Hogan told Plaintiff that the

3
 remaining 75 officer photos would be available sometime Monday July 2, 2018. Again,

it must be pointed out that at no time did Carpenter, nor Hogan, advise the Plaintiff that

they had contacted the Court to advise that they would not be able to comply with its

order or that the Court had granted an extension to Defendant or his attorneys to produce

the officer photographs the Court had ordered them to turn over to the Plaintiff by 4:00

p.m. Friday, June 29, 2018.

10. The sworn affidavit of Sergeant Angela Everett filed with the Court states that she

transferred photographs to a disk in satisfaction of the Court’s Order. No mention is

made by Everett that there are photos of officers that were not provided and would

have to be supplemented at a later date and time. Nor does she state that she

modified each image file to remove the officers name and replace it with a number or

crop photos to remove nameplates on officer uniforms. See Exhibits G, pages 3-5 and J.

Based on information and belief, the 75 missing photos are not missing at all, but rather

Sergeant Everett did not have sufficient time to replace officer name with a number or

crop photos to remove nameplates on officer uniforms on each of the 518 individual

image files of uniformed, plain clothed, non-undercover officers and get the CD’s

completed and turned over to Plaintiff by the time directed by the Court. That is the

reason that Deputy City Attorney Hogan asked Plaintiff if he wished to pick the disk up

that afternoon or wait until the next week, to be able to remove the names of officers

from the remaining 75 image files and replace names with numbers or top crop images

4
 to remove officer nameplates to avoid identifying the officers. It must be pointed out

that Defendant and his attorneys did not provide the photographs that Plaintiff sought in

his FOI request. He sought photographs used for officer ID cards and sent an example of

such a photo. Defendant and his attorneys provided photos of officers in a studio type

setting with a U.S. flag in the background. See Exhibits K and L.

11. Had Plaintiff not followed the directions of the Court to acquire the photos on June 30th

and instead followed the wishes of the Defendant and his attorneys to pick up the CD’s

on July 2nd, the Defendant’s agents and attorneys would have been able to change

names into numbers on the remaining image files or alter/crop them to hide officer

nameplates, which they did not have time to do by 4:00 p.m. on Friday June 30th. They

would then have been able to hand over all 518 photographs with officer names removed

or cropped out of photos on Monday, July 2nd, and their willful contempt of the Court’s

Order would have gone undiscovered.

12. Evidence introduced in the June 29th hearing during the testimony of Chief Ean Lee

Bordeaux included photos of officers that used their names as the file name and were the

same type of photos that the Plaintiff sought in his FOI request. See Exhibit M

13. The action of the Defendant and his attorneys to modify or alter officer photographs,

determined by this Court to be public records, is a violation of A.C.A. § 5-54-121, a

Class D Felony. See Exhibit N.

5
14. Plaintiff was required by the Order of this Court to pick up the officer photos from

Defendant’s attorneys Friday afternoon as were they required by that same Order to turn

them over to Plaintiff. Defendant did not seek permission from the Court to modify its

Order nor did they obtain permission or any form of agreement from Plaintiff to permit

additional photos alleged to be missing the following week. If Defendant’s attorneys

sought permission from the Court, it was an Ex Parte communication, as they did not

provide Plaintiff with a copy of any such request.

15. The Defendant has shown his disrespect for this Court by failing to appear even though

he had been duly served on June 13, 2018. The Defendant having received a copy of the

complaint filed against him was aware that a hearing was to be held within seven (7)

days. Defendant’s attorney stated he was on vacation and referred to an affidavit from

another matter to justify his absence yet offered no such affidavit as evidence. Based on

information and belief, the Defendant was actually in Little Rock on June 30, 2018 and

was seen at LRPD headquarters and did not leave Little Rock until after the hearing was

over. Plaintiff mentions this to highlight that the Defendant and his attorneys appear to

have little regard for our court system and our laws. They have sullied their positions

as public employees and should have to face the consequences for their actions or lack

thereof.

6
 16. The Defendant, Kenton Tremar Buckner, the city attorney and his deputies, along with

Sergeant Angela Everett should all have to appear and show cause why they should not

be held in contempt of a valid order of the Court or filing a false affidavit and face

appropriate sanctions.

WHEREFORE, based on the foregoing, the Plaintiff prays that this Court will find that the

Defendant Kenton Tremar Buckner and city attorneys are in contempt for failing to follow the Order of

this Court, and Sgt. Angela Everett for filing a false affidavit impose sanctions and order the immediate

production of the remaining image files and any other relief that this Court deems proper.

Respectfully submitted,

7
 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, Russell R. Racop, hereby certify that a copy of this Motion for Contempt has been served on
the attorney of record for the Defendant on this 4st day of July, 2018 via email and upon filing by
the clerk by the e-flex filing notification system.

Rick D. Hogan
Deputy City Attorney
Office of the City Attorney
500 West Markham, Suite 310
Little Rock, AR 72201
rhogan@littlerock.gov

Russell R. Racop
301 Alamo Drive
Little Rock, AR 72211
501-352-0043
russracop@att.net

8
ELECTRONICALLY FILED
Pulaski County Circuit Court
Larry Crane, Circuit/County Clerk
2018-Jun-29 12:52:16
60CV-18-3661
C06D05 : 2 Pages

A
russracop@att.net

From: Hogan, Rick <rhogan@littlerock.gov>

Sent: Friday, June 29, 2018 3:39 PM
To: 'russracop'
Cc: Mann, Bill; Betton, Alex; Garcia, Caleb
Subject: RE: RUSSELL R. RACOP v. CHIEF KENTON BUCKNER Case No. 60CV-18-3661

Mr. Racop, I have been informed that the disk with the photos are en route to our office and I will file an
affidavit with the Clerk of compliance with the courts order. I will email you shortly when the disc is in my
possession for delivery. Do you wish to pick the disk up this afternoon.

Rick D. Hogan, JD, MPH

Deputy City Attorney
Arkansas Bar #83084
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY
500 West Markham, Ste. 310
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-1428
(T) (501) 371-6896 (direct)
(F) (501) 371-4675
(M) (501) 413-0343
rhogan@littlerock.gov

This e-mail message is intended solely for the use of the addressee(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you
are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this email or attached document(s), or taking any action in
reliance on the contents of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited, and may be unlawful. If you have received this
message in error, please (1) immediately notify me by reply email, (2) do not review, copy, save, forward, or print this email or
any of its attachments, and (3) immediately delete and destroy this email, its attachments and all copies thereof. Unintended
transmission does not constitute waiver of the attorney-client privilege or any other privilege.

From: russracop [mailto:russracop@att.net]

Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2018 6:10 PM
To: Hogan, Rick <rhogan@littlerock.gov>
Cc: Mann, Bill <BMann@littlerock.gov>; Betton, Alex <abetton@littlerock.gov>; Garcia, Caleb <cgarcia@littlerock.gov>
Subject: Re: RUSSELL R. RACOP v. CHIEF KENTON BUCKNER Case No. 60CV-18-3661

My email address russ racop@att.net is working just fine. I suspect the problem with the failing city IT
infrastructure. B
-------- Original message --------
From: "Hogan, Rick" <rhogan@littlerock.gov>
Date: 6/28/18 5:06 PM (GMT-06:00)
To: "'russracop4Ward6@gmail.com'" <russracop4Ward6@gmail.com>

1
russracop@att.net

From: russracop@att.net
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2018 3:50 PM
To: 'Hogan, Rick'
Cc: 'Mann, Bill'; 'Betton, Alex'; 'Garcia, Caleb'
Subject: RE: RUSSELL R. RACOP v. CHIEF KENTON BUCKNER Case No. 60CV-18-3661

I am on my way downtown to pickup 20 dvds from LRPD in response to a previous FOI request. I can pick it up after
that. I’m headed out the door now. /RRacop

From: Hogan, Rick <rhogan@littlerock.gov>

Sent: Friday, June 29, 2018 3:39 PM
To: 'russracop' <russracop@att.net>
Cc: Mann, Bill <BMann@littlerock.gov>; Betton, Alex <abetton@littlerock.gov>; Garcia, Caleb <cgarcia@littlerock.gov>
Subject: RE: RUSSELL R. RACOP v. CHIEF KENTON BUCKNER Case No. 60CV-18-3661

Mr. Racop, I have been informed that the disk with the photos are en route to our office and I will file an
affidavit with the Clerk of compliance with the courts order. I will email you shortly when the disc is in my
possession for delivery. Do you wish to pick the disk up this afternoon.

Rick D. Hogan, JD, MPH

Deputy City Attorney
Arkansas Bar #83084
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY
500 West Markham, Ste. 310
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-1428
(T) (501) 371-6896 (direct)
(F) (501) 371-4675
(M) (501) 413-0343
rhogan@littlerock.gov

This e-mail message is intended solely for the use of the addressee(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you
are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this email or attached document(s), or taking any action in
reliance on the contents of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited, and may be unlawful. If you have received this
message in error, please (1) immediately notify me by reply email, (2) do not review, copy, save, forward, or print this email or
any of its attachments, and (3) immediately delete and destroy this email, its attachments and all copies thereof. Unintended
transmission does not constitute waiver of the attorney-client privilege or any other privilege.

From: russracop [mailto:russracop@att.net]

Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2018 6:10 PM
To: Hogan, Rick <rhogan@littlerock.gov>
C
Cc: Mann, Bill <BMann@littlerock.gov>; Betton, Alex <abetton@littlerock.gov>; Garcia, Caleb <cgarcia@littlerock.gov>
Subject: Re: RUSSELL R. RACOP v. CHIEF KENTON BUCKNER Case No. 60CV-18-3661
1
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ELECTRONICALLY FILED
Pulaski County Circuit Court
Larry Crane, Circuit/County Clerk
2018-Jul-02 16:54:04
60CV-18-3661
C06D05 : 2 Pages

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AR Bureau of Legislative Services | PAW Document Page https://advance.lexis.com/documentpage/?pdmfid=1000516&crid=0a1e...

Code of Arkansas Public Access More

Document: A.C.A. § 5-54-121

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A.C.A. § 5-54-121

Copy Citation

Current through all laws of the 2017 Regular Session and 2017 First Extraordinary Session

Arkansas Code Annotated Title 5 Criminal Offenses Subtitle 5. Offenses Against The Administration Of
Government Chapter 54 Obstructing Governmental Operations Subchapter 1-- General Provisions

5-54-121. Tampering with a public record.

(a) A person commits the offense of tampering with a public record if, with the purpose of impairing the verity, legibility, or availability of a
public record, he or she knowingly:
(1) Makes a false entry in or falsely alters any public record; or
(2) Erases, obliterates, removes, destroys, or conceals a public record.
(b) (1) (A) Tampering with a public record is a Class C felony if the public record is a court record.
(B) Tampering with a public record is a Class B felony if the public record is a court record and the person broke into any building or structure
with the intent of tampering with a court record located in the building or structure.
(2) Otherwise, tampering with a public record is a Class D felony.

History

Acts 1975, No. 280, § 2821; A.S.A. 1947, § 41-2821; Acts 1987, No. 37, § 1; 1999, No. 1104, § 1.

Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official Edition

© 2018 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved.

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