It’s not every day an Arkansas legislative audit includes the phrase “unauthorized trip to St. Thomas,” but Thursday’s meeting delivered exactly that.
Lawmakers were briefed on a Securities Department employee who was sent to Fort Lauderdale for a work conference — and then apparently decided that if he was already in Florida, the Caribbean was just right there. So he allegedly pulled out his state-issued travel card and charged:
Total cost: $2,900.04, none of it approved.
Commissioner Susannah Marshall and Deputy Commissioner Campbell McLaurin told lawmakers they managed to get the hotel charges reversed after some very determined conversations with a bewildered island hotel manager. Recovery amount: $1,866.42.
But the airfare — booked through a third-party travel app — was a lost cause. The state is out $1,033.62, which seems to be the going rate for a one-way escape from accountability.
Rep. Jimmy Gazaway asked the natural question:
“Has he been arrested?”
Marshall: No.
McLaurin: We believe that he still is [in St. Thomas].
Yes — according to department leadership, the man who used his state travel card for a tropical adventure may have simply… stayed on the tropical adventure.
Arkansas: 0
St. Thomas piña coladas: 1
A police report has been submitted and the matter has been elevated to prosecutors and the Attorney General. But as of the audit hearing, the employee’s exact whereabouts remain unknown.
If he has, in fact, remained on the island, it may be the first time in state history that Legislative Audit has inadvertently funded a one-way ticket to a permanent beach day.
Lawmakers moved on to the next agenda item, but not before leaving everyone with the same lingering thought:
The man really might still be in St. Thomas.
