Fulton County judge charged with felony theft of property

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Photo: Courtesy of Areawide Media.

Fulton County Judge Jimmy Kendrick has been arrested and charged with felony theft of property, after county employees and equipment were reportedly used to work on his private driveway. His arrest follows an Arkansas State Police investigation.

According to the six-page probable cause affidavit filed Thursday, the two-day project was completed in mid June with county employees using a road grader and two dump trucks. The work involved 18 loads of fill dirt, with the grader used to smooth the driveway.

The following week, Kendrick reimbursed the county $1,812 for equipment, material and labor used for the work on his private driveway.

On June 24, an ASP investigator interviewed the county judge. Judge Kendrick told the investigator since taking office in January, he has “been operating under a state of emergency ever since because things have been so bad.”

Kendrick reportedly said he had noticed his driveway was in rough shape, and he would have to take off time to fix it. He said the driveway was so bad his wife could barely get her car down it.

He explained to the ASP investigator how he determined the amount to reimburse the county, concluding by saying it was the “best guess” he had to determine the cost to the county.

The investigation included interviews with four county employees and the owner of the property where the fill dirt was obtained.

In addition, the ASP investigator contacted three locally owned and operated private contracting companies to obtain estimated charges for road grader and dirt work. Based on the three estimates, the investigator determined the average cost for completing a project like the county judge’s private driveway was approximately $5,620.

ASP spokesman Bill Sadler told KAIT Jonesboro Kendrick was released from custody Thursday, after having been booked into the county jail earlier in the day. His bond had been set at $5,000.

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