By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
Speculation has it that Lonoke County Treasurer Karol DePriest is the latest and perhaps last elected official in Arkansas to receive a letter saying she will no longer be able to draw a retirement check while she continues to work.
DePriest and former Lonoke County Assessor Jerry Adams were among the 10 or so mostly county officials, who retired in name only for three months in 2009 to draw retirement pay while continuing their official duties.
But whether DePriest has become the last to be cut off from drawing retirement from the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System while continuing to work is not known because APERS is prohibited by law from telling, and DePriest isn’t talking.
“My attorney has said not to talk about this,” DePriest said Friday though for just a moment she seemed inclined to tell. “I suppose there’s going to be a story about it anyway,” she said then added, “My retirement is private. It has nothing to do with the county.”
DePriest stopped drawing her paycheck from the county for three months in 2009 to be eligible to draw retirement. She was retired on the books, but in reality she was at work like always and attended quorum court meetings. So did Adams.
But DePriest has always maintained that APERS officials taught that “off the payroll for three months” was defined as retired for APERS’ purposes.
Adams was defeated for re-election and now draws retirement. DePriest ran unopposed and would have continued to work and also draw retirement until she received a letter from APERS saying she was not eligible for retirement benefits.
Denise Hoggard, the attorney of four elected officials accused of double-dipping — though not DePriest — said all of the elected officials, who have been caught up in the double-dipping scandal continued to go to work while they were off payroll. Those who were out of their offices were deemed to have “terminated employment correctly” and have not been told that they violated state law.
Hoggard also pointed out that it was only elected officials who have been ostracized for following what they believed was APERS policy.
High-ranking state officials like Artee Williams, director of Workforce Services and chairman of the APERS board of directors, left his state job in July, only to be rehired a month later so he could draw retirement and a salary.
