News/Events

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced the arrest of a Polk County man for crimes involving children.

James Edward Schroer, 41, of Cove, was arrested by the Attorney General’s Office Cyber Crimes Unit on 30 counts of distributing, possessing or viewing of matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, a Class C felony. He is currently being held at the Polk County jail on $500,000 bond.

Special agents in the Attorney General’s office seized three phones, two computer hard drives, two tablets, three SD cards, and 12 flash drives from the home. This file will be turned over to 18th West Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Andy Riner.

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge released the following statement after President Donald J. Trump announced Lee Rudofsky’s nomination for a judgeship in the U.S. District Court Eastern District.

“When I hired Lee away from Walmart in 2015, I knew that he had the experience and legal acumen to be the lead strategist on crucial litigation for my administration as the first official Solicitor General of the Attorney General’s Office,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “I am confident that as a jurist Lee will be fair, impartial and will adhere to the rule of law.”

In 2015, Rudofsky was hired by Attorney General Rutledge to be the first official Solicitor General for the Attorney General. In that role, he advised Attorney General Rutledge on several key proceedings, including defending the State’s decision to successfully terminate Medicaid program funding to Planned Parenthood. He organized a multistate, bipartisan and multimillion dollar lawsuit against the State of Delaware to the U.S. Supreme Court and successfully guided litigation allowing the execution of convicted murderers by lethal injection. Rudofsky is also credited with implementing the office’s formal moot court program to prepare office attorneys for argument as well as establishing a clear review process of all briefs going to the 8th Circuit and Arkansas Supreme Court.

Says, ‘difference between life and death for a child’

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today announced the allocation of an additional $150,000 for the Child Abduction Response Teams (CART) program, a multiagency initiative coordinated by the Criminal Justice Institute. This announcement comes after the collaborative effort completed the first in the nation, statewide certification of all twelve CARTs located in the state, streamlining resources to better protect children in Arkansas if they are abducted, missing or endangered.

“Too many parents live in anguish of a lost or abducted child, and we must do everything in our power to bring missing children home,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “CART teams understand how precious each second is when investigating an abduction which can mean the difference between life and death for a child.”

In 2016, a partnership was formed between the Attorney General’s Office, the Criminal Justice Institute, Arkansas State Police, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management. The agreement formed the foundation for twelve CARTs with the goal of reducing the response time and increasing the likelihood of a successful recovery for missing or abducted children.

In 2015, Rutledge designated $100,000 from the Standard & Poor settlement to facilitate the implementation of CARTs throughout the state.

The multi-agency and multi-discipline response has established and practice channels of response to reduce time and has received full certification from the U.S. Department of Justice, AMBER Alert and Technical Assistance Program.

Says, ‘Residents in Helena-West Helena should feel vindicated with the justice served today’

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge released the following statement on the decision sentencing Charline Brandon to five years in prison. Brandon, owner of Bridge of Faith Hospice & Palliative Care of Helena-West Helena, pleaded guilty to two counts of Medicaid fraud and one count of willful failure to pay or file taxes.

“Residents in Helena-West Helena should feel vindicated with the justice served today,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “Holding facilities and owners to the highest standards is the best way to ensure all Arkansans have access to healthcare facilities near their homes.”

In March, Brandon of Cleveland, Mississippi, pleaded guilty to two counts of Medicaid fraud and one count of willful failure to pay or file taxes. The Medicaid fraud investigation revealed that from September 2013 through December 2016, Bridge of Faith Hospice & Palliative Care was paid gross income of $1,567,432.82 by Medicaid and Medicare and never filed an income tax return in Arkansas. The Medicaid fraud charges resulted from Brandon billing the Arkansas Medicaid Program $289,986.46 for hospice care services provided to two Medicaid recipients who were never terminally ill.

Brandon has pleaded guilty in federal court in Mississippi to similar allegations involving Medicaid and Medicare in Mississippi.

This case was referred to the Arkansas Attorney General’s office by the Mississippi Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General. The case was investigated with assistance from the Arkansas Medicaid Inspector General and prosecuted in cooperation with Sixth Judicial District Prosecutor Larry Jegley. The Corporation Income Tax Section in the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration Tax Auditor also participated in the investigation.