Benton County Coroner Arrested on Charges of Using Deceased Patients’ Medication
Scott may face removal from office following arrest
Last updated Sunday, August 20, 2006 7:46 PM CDT in News
By Melissa Blakely & Jaclyn Houghton
The Morning News
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BENTONVILLE — Benton County Coroner Kimberly Scott confiscated prescription medication from dead hospice patients for personal use, the Benton County prosecutor said Saturday. She may face removal from office following her Friday night arrest.
“It is a sad day for the county, but the laws must be enforced,” Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Robin Green said at a news conference Saturday. “We hoped this information wasn’t truthful, but it accumulated to the arrest last night.”
Scott, of 1402 W. Pine St. in Rogers, was arrested in connection with two felony and two misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance without prescription. Scott was contacted by telephone and declined to comment Saturday. Scott’s family also declined to comment during a visit to her residence on Saturday.
Green said Scott may also face other charges such as theft of property.
Green said she will decide in the next few days whether to ask the court to remove Scott from office. Scott is set to begin her second term of office in January after winning an uncontested primary race in May.
Scott had not resigned from office as of Saturday night.
“The removal of office is not taken very lightly. It’s a very weighted decision to make,” Green said.
Mike Ford, a former coroner employee, and Jessica Palmer, deputy coroner, tipped off investigators with the Criminal Investigation’s Narcotics Division of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office last week, Green said.
Ford told investigators that Palmer was suspicious in July when Scott would not tell her the whereabouts of a white bottle confiscated at the June 9 death scene of a hospice patient, according to an affidavit for a search warrant. Palmer later found out it was a recently filled prescription of morphine, the affidavit says.
Scott was admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital in Rogers on June 30 after her husband discovered her unconscious on the kitchen floor, according to hospital records detailed in the affidavit. A drug screening showed opiates and benzodiazepines in her system. A pharmacist consulted by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office said ingestion of morphine could show a positive result of opiates, according to the affidavit.
Scott admitted to ingesting the morphine, Green said. The morphine was not found in her residence by investigators.
Ford told investigators that when Scott became county coroner she ordered the confiscation of all medication from death scenes, according to the affidavit. Ford then made an evidence locker with keys for himself and Scott. He said he noticed Scott storing the confiscated medication in her desk instead of the locker, according to the affidavit.
Ford then conducted an inventory of the locker and presented Scott with a list of missing drugs, to which Scott responded with a note to Ford saying to stay out of her desk. Ford turned in his resignation to the coroner’s office Aug. 1, according to the affidavit. Ford declined to comment on the case Saturday.
Green said she would not comment if Scott’s desk at the coroner’s office would be searched.
Scott is facing three to 10 years in prison and $10,000 fine per felony charge and one year in prison and $1,000 per misdemeanor charge. Scott was not deemed a flight risk and was cited and released by Benton County Sheriff Keith Ferguson.
The Evidence
Recovery Log Entry
Evidence Recovery Log From Residence of Benton County Coroner Kimberly Scott
* Oxycodone — 40 pills
* Amitriptyline — 22 pills
* Phenergan — 11 1/2 pills
* Pink pill — one pill
* Oxycontin — 59 pills
SOURCE: Benton County Sheriff’s Office
BY THE BOOK
Arkansas Codes For Possible Removal of an Elected Official From Office
Arkansas Code 27: Removal of county and township officers—grounds
* The circuit court shall have jurisdiction upon information, presentment or indictment to remove any county or township officer from office for incompetency, corruption, gross immorality, criminal conduct, malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfeasance in office.
Arkansas Code 21-12-302: Removal for conviction of certain offenses
* (a) Upon conviction of any county or township officer for an offense involving incompetency, corruption, gross immorality, criminal conduct amounting to a felony, malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, a part of the sentence of the circuit court having jurisdiction shall be to remove such officer from office.
* (b) The clerk of the court at the close of the term shall transmit to the governor a certified transcript of the information or indictment, with the judgment of the court thereon.
* (c) The vacancy shall be filled as may be prescribed by law at the time the vacancy occurs.
Arkansas Code 14-14-1311: Removal from office
* The circuit court shall have jurisdiction, upon information, presentment, or indictment, to remove any county or township officer from office for incompetency, corruption, gross immorality, criminal conduct, malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance in office.
SOURCE: www.loislaw.com given out by Benton County Prosecutor’s Office
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