At the end of last year, the State Board of Corrections filed a lawsuit against the Sanders administration for violating Amendment 33 of the Arkansas Constitution, which they argue made former Secretary of the Board of Corrections Joe Profiri accountable to the Board and not the governor’s office.
In an interview with Arkansas Week, Republican Attorney General Tim Griffin said his office is defending the state against this suit and he said the state has also filed a separate suit against the Board for violating state law.
“I filed on behalf of the state for violations of the Freedom of Information Act by the Board and failure to comply with the state statute that governs very specifically hiring of special counsel,” he said.
During the interview, Griffin did say he was limited on the amount of information he could provide given the cases are being litigated in court.
Amidst the dispute between whether Profiri reported directly to the State Board of Directions or to the governor’s office, the Board fired Profiri.
After Profiri was fired, Gov. Sarah Sanders hired him to be an aide to the governor. His salary as an aide to the governor will be for about $200,000 a year, which is $10,000 less than what he earned as secretary of the Department of Corrections, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
