A Mountain Home woman facing federal drug charges has filed a petition seeking the return of her 2021 Infinity automobile.
Sixty-two-year-old Kathleen Novy filed her petition acting as her own attorney in the Civil Division of Baxter County Circuit Court December 1.
Novy alleges that her car was taken “by or at the direction of David L. Ethredge” in his capacity as prosecuting attorney for the 14th Judicial District. Ethredge is named as the defendant in the civil action.
According to a person familiar with the case, the vehicle was seized for federal officials and it has been suggested to Novy that she contact them instead of the state.
Novy’s current drug charges are being handled in the Federal District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.
She claims the car was seized from her residence along Lake Park Lane in Mountain Home on September 4 and taken to a towing company’s lot where it is being held “until it is released” by Ethredge.
If the vehicle is being held for federal officials, they would likely be the ones to release it.
In the petition, Novy claims she has not received “any reason for the seizure, no forfeiture paperwork and no confiscation report.” She says she has also not received an explanation of the legal authority under which the vehicle was seized.
She claims in her petition that since no forfeiture action was filed within the statutory deadline, the law “requires the return of the property.”
In addition to the return of the vehicle, Novy requests that the court order Ethredge to pay the storage fees due from September 4 until the day the property is returned to her possession.
The requests in the petition could be shot down for violating the legal doctrine of judicial immunity which basically holds that in general a person cannot sue a prosecutor in civil court if the actions of the prosecutor were taken as part of his or her official duties.
The immunity is designed to allow prosecutors to make discretionary decisions without fear of constant lawsuits.
Novy also filed a request for a long list of documents under the state’s Freedom of Information Act, including incident reports, investigative notes, chain-of-custody records and internal notes, memos, e-mails or directives concerning the seizure, towing and holding of her vehicle.
Novy was among a group of people who were arrested September 4 during an operation conducted by a number of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
Those arrested were charged with selling methamphetamine and cocaine.
Some of the people face state charges and others, including Novy, are being charged in federal court.
According to electronic federal court records, Novy is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on January 8, 2026, and a jury trial four days later.
The conditions of release in Novy’s federal case were modified last month to allow her to live with a relative in Mountain Home in order to “get her affairs in order, including selling what personal property she can” and arranging several medical appointments.
Prior to the modification of the conditions of release, Novy had completed a six-month drug treatment program on an inpatient basis at Harbor House in Fort Smith. She will continue outpatient treatment via Telehealth from Mountain Home, according to federal court records.
Novy has a history of drug charges in both state and federal courts. She was arrested along with 10 others in August 2008 as the result of a four-month long investigation by the 14th Judicial District Drug Task Force, the Arkansas State Police and a number of state and local agencies.
The operation focused on those suspected of involvement in selling methamphetamine.
Novy pled guilty to the charges against her in mid-December 2008 and was sentenced to six years and six months in federal prison without the possibility of parole.
She also forfeited more than $200,000 seized by law enforcement officers from her residence and vehicle and a 14-acre property “purchased with the proceeds of illegal drug trafficking”.
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