ELECTRONICALLY FILED

Pulaski County Circuit Court

Larry Crane, Circuit/County Clerk
2018-Jul-02 10:41:34
60CV-18-3661
C06D05 : 19 Pages
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF PULASKI COUNTY, ARKANSAS
FIFTH DIVISION

RUSSELL R. RACOP PLAINTIFF

VS. CASE NO. 60CV-18-3661

CHIEF KENTON TREMAR BUCKNER, in his official capacity DEFENDANT

as custodian of certain records

MOTION FOR CONTEMPT

COMES, the Plaintiff, Russell R. Racop, appearing pro se, and for his Motion for

Contempt states:

1. On Friday June 30, 2018, the Court issued an Order directing Defendant to comply with

Plaintiffs request for photographs of uniformed, plain clothed, non-undercover officers.

The order directed that the photographs shall be made available by the Defendant to the

Plaintiff no later than 4:00 p.m. that date. See Exhibit A.

2. At approximately 3:49 p.m., Deputy City Attorney Rick D. Hogan sent Plaintiff an

email in which he stated a disk with the photos was en route to his office and that he

would send another email when the disk was in his possession for delivery. Hogan further

stated that he was filing an affidavit of compliance with the Courts order with Circuit

Clerk’s office and attached a copy of the affidavit. See Exhibit B. It must be pointed out

that Hogan in the email asked Plaintiff if he “wished to pick the disk up afternoon”, even

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 thought he was present in Court and heard Judge Griffen direct the Defendant to turn

over the photos to Plaintiff by 4:00 p.m. and for both parties to provide a written

statement to the Court that the transfer had taken place.

3. At approximately 3:50 p.m. the Plaintiff responded to Hogan’s email advising him that

he was headed downtown to retrieve a separate AFOIA response from the Little Rock

Police Department from a request made on May 11, 2018 and not related to this matter

See Exhibit C.

4. At approximately 3:55 p.m. as the Plaintiff was leaving his residence City Attorney

Tom Carpenter called and stated that they had 443 pictures of officers on CD’s but that

they were missing 75 photos from two recruit classes and he was told that they were on

a different server from the 443 photos they had ready to turn over. Carpenter further

stated that the missing 75 photos could not be produced until a later date. Carpenter also

stated that the CD’s were going to be delivered to the courthouse. Plaintiff advised that

the order specified that they were to be handed over to him directly. Carpenter said he

would check and call Plaintiff back. The conversation was recorded and a copy of the

recording will be provided as Exhibit D.

5. At approximately 3:56 p.m., Hogan sent a second email in which he advised that the

CD’s would be at the front desk and that he had filed an affidavit with the Court. See

Exhibit E.

6. At approximately 3:59 p.m., Carpenter called Plaintiff a second time and stated that the

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 CD’s were at his office. The conversation was recorded and a copy of the recording will

be provided as Exhibit F.

7. Plaintiff arrived at Little Rock City Hall at approximately 4:10 p.m. and after going

through security procedures proceeded to the offices of the City Attorney on the third

floor of City Hall.

8. At the office of the City Attorney, Plaintiff introduced himself to the receptionist and at

approximately 4:23 p.m. Hogan came to the receptionist area and handed Plaintiff an

envelope with the writing “All photo’s in Ref to F.O.I # 0367”. The envelope contained

two CD’s, one marked “L.R.P.D. Pictures” and the other had no notations on it. See

Exhibit F. Hogan also provided Plaintiff with a copy of a letter address to the Honorable

Wendell Griffen and an affidavit of Angela Everett, a Sergeant with the Little Rock

Police Department assigned to administration in Chief Kenton Tremar Buckner’s office.

See Exhibits G, H and I.

9. As Plaintiff and Deputy City Attorney Hogan were speaking, City Attorney Tom

Carpenter came out to the receptionist area and both he and Hogan told Plaintiff that the

remaining 75 officer photos would be available sometime Monday July 2, 2018.

10. The sworn affidavit of Sergeant Angela Everett filed with the Court states that she

transferred photographs to a disc in satisfaction of the Court’s Order. No mention is

made by Everett that there are 75 photos of officers that were not provided and would

have to be supplemented at a later date and time. Nor does she state that she

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 modified each image file to remove the officers name and replace it with a number.

Based on information and belief, the 75 missing photos are not missing at all, but rather

Sergeant Everett did not have sufficient time to replace officer name with a number on

each of the 518 individual image files of uniformed, plain clothed, non-undercover

officers and get the CD’s completed and turned over to Plaintiff by the time directed by

the Court. That is the reason that Deputy City Attorney Hogan asked Plaintiff if he

wished to pick the disk up that afternoon or wait until the next week, in order to remove

the names of officers from the remailing 75 image files and replace names with numbers

to avoid identifying the officers.

11. Had Plaintiff not followed the directions of the Court and failed to picked up the CD’s

on June 30, 2018, the Defendant’s agent and attorneys would have been able to change

names into numbers on the 75 image files that they did not have time to do by 4:00 p.m.

on Friday June 30th. They would then have been able to hand over all 518 photographs

with names changed into numbers on Monday, July 1, 2018 and their willful contempt

of the Court’s Order would have gone undiscovered.

12. The Defendant has shown his contempt for this Court by failing to appear even though

he had been duly served on June 13, 2018. The Defendant having received a copy of the

complaint filed against him was aware that a hearing was to be held within seven (7)

days. Defendant’s attorney stated he was on vacation and referred to an affidavit from

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 another matter to justify his absence yet offered no such affidavit as evidence. Based on

information and belief, the Defendant was actually in Little Rock on June 30, 2018 and

was seen at LRPD headquarters and did not leave Little Rock until after the hearing was

over.

13. The Defendant, Kenton Tremar Buckner, the city attorney and his deputies, along with

Sergeant Angela Davis should all have to appear and show cause why they should not be

held in contempt of a valid order of the Court and face sanctions.

WHEREFORE, based on the foregoing, the Plaintiff prays that this Court will find that the

Defendant, Kenton Tremar Buckner, Sergeant Angela Everett and city attorneys are in contempt, impose

sanctions and order the immediate production of the remaining 75 image files and any other relief

that this Court deems proper.

Respectfully submitted,

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 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, Russell R. Racop, hereby certify that a copy of this Motion for Contempt has been served on
the attorney of record for the Defendant on this 1st day of July, 2018 via email and upon filing by
the clerk by the e-flex filing notification system.

Rick D. Hogan
Deputy City Attorney
Office of the City Attorney
500 West Markham, Suite 310
Little Rock, AR 72201
rhogan@littlerock.gov

Russell R. Racop
301 Alamo Drive
Little Rock, AR 72211
501-352-0043
russracop@att.net

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ELECTRONICALLY FILED
Pulaski County Circuit Court
Larry Crane, Circuit/County Clerk
2018-Jun-29 12:52:16
60CV-18-3661
C06D05 : 2 Pages

A
russracop@att.net

From: Hogan, Rick <rhogan@littlerock.gov>

Sent: Friday, June 29, 2018 3:39 PM
To: 'russracop'
Cc: Mann, Bill; Betton, Alex; Garcia, Caleb
Subject: RE: RUSSELL R. RACOP v. CHIEF KENTON BUCKNER Case No. 60CV-18-3661

Mr. Racop, I have been informed that the disk with the photos are en route to our office and I will file an
affidavit with the Clerk of compliance with the courts order. I will email you shortly when the disc is in my
possession for delivery. Do you wish to pick the disk up this afternoon.

Rick D. Hogan, JD, MPH

Deputy City Attorney
Arkansas Bar #83084
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY
500 West Markham, Ste. 310
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-1428
(T) (501) 371-6896 (direct)
(F) (501) 371-4675
(M) (501) 413-0343
rhogan@littlerock.gov

This e-mail message is intended solely for the use of the addressee(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you
are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this email or attached document(s), or taking any action in
reliance on the contents of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited, and may be unlawful. If you have received this
message in error, please (1) immediately notify me by reply email, (2) do not review, copy, save, forward, or print this email or
any of its attachments, and (3) immediately delete and destroy this email, its attachments and all copies thereof. Unintended
transmission does not constitute waiver of the attorney-client privilege or any other privilege.

From: russracop [mailto:russracop@att.net]

Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2018 6:10 PM
To: Hogan, Rick <rhogan@littlerock.gov>
Cc: Mann, Bill <BMann@littlerock.gov>; Betton, Alex <abetton@littlerock.gov>; Garcia, Caleb <cgarcia@littlerock.gov>
Subject: Re: RUSSELL R. RACOP v. CHIEF KENTON BUCKNER Case No. 60CV-18-3661

My email address russ racop@att.net is working just fine. I suspect the problem with the failing city IT
infrastructure. B
-------- Original message --------
From: "Hogan, Rick" <rhogan@littlerock.gov>
Date: 6/28/18 5:06 PM (GMT-06:00)
To: "'russracop4Ward6@gmail.com'" <russracop4Ward6@gmail.com>

1
russracop@att.net

From: russracop@att.net
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2018 3:50 PM
To: 'Hogan, Rick'
Cc: 'Mann, Bill'; 'Betton, Alex'; 'Garcia, Caleb'
Subject: RE: RUSSELL R. RACOP v. CHIEF KENTON BUCKNER Case No. 60CV-18-3661

I am on my way downtown to pickup 20 dvds from LRPD in response to a previous FOI request. I can pick it up after
that. I’m headed out the door now. /RRacop

From: Hogan, Rick <rhogan@littlerock.gov>

Sent: Friday, June 29, 2018 3:39 PM
To: 'russracop' <russracop@att.net>
Cc: Mann, Bill <BMann@littlerock.gov>; Betton, Alex <abetton@littlerock.gov>; Garcia, Caleb <cgarcia@littlerock.gov>
Subject: RE: RUSSELL R. RACOP v. CHIEF KENTON BUCKNER Case No. 60CV-18-3661

Mr. Racop, I have been informed that the disk with the photos are en route to our office and I will file an
affidavit with the Clerk of compliance with the courts order. I will email you shortly when the disc is in my
possession for delivery. Do you wish to pick the disk up this afternoon.

Rick D. Hogan, JD, MPH

Deputy City Attorney
Arkansas Bar #83084
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY
500 West Markham, Ste. 310
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-1428
(T) (501) 371-6896 (direct)
(F) (501) 371-4675
(M) (501) 413-0343
rhogan@littlerock.gov

This e-mail message is intended solely for the use of the addressee(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you
are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this email or attached document(s), or taking any action in
reliance on the contents of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited, and may be unlawful. If you have received this
message in error, please (1) immediately notify me by reply email, (2) do not review, copy, save, forward, or print this email or
any of its attachments, and (3) immediately delete and destroy this email, its attachments and all copies thereof. Unintended
transmission does not constitute waiver of the attorney-client privilege or any other privilege.

From: russracop [mailto:russracop@att.net]

Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2018 6:10 PM
To: Hogan, Rick <rhogan@littlerock.gov>
C
Cc: Mann, Bill <BMann@littlerock.gov>; Betton, Alex <abetton@littlerock.gov>; Garcia, Caleb <cgarcia@littlerock.gov>
Subject: Re: RUSSELL R. RACOP v. CHIEF KENTON BUCKNER Case No. 60CV-18-3661
1
russracop@att.net

From: Hogan, Rick <rhogan@littlerock.gov>

Sent: Friday, June 29, 2018 3:56 PM
To: 'russracop@att.net'
Cc: Mann, Bill; Betton, Alex; Garcia, Caleb
Subject: RE: RUSSELL R. RACOP v. CHIEF KENTON BUCKNER Case No. 60CV-18-3661
Attachments: Affdavit and cover letter.pdf

It will be at the front desk. I have filed the attached Affidavit with the Court.

Rick D. Hogan, JD, MPH

Deputy City Attorney
Arkansas Bar #83084
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY
500 West Markham, Ste. 310
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-1428
(T) (501) 371-6896 (direct)
(F) (501) 371-4675
(M) (501) 413-0343
rhogan@littlerock.gov

This e-mail message is intended solely for the use of the addressee(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you
are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this email or attached document(s), or taking any action in
reliance on the contents of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited, and may be unlawful. If you have received this
message in error, please (1) immediately notify me by reply email, (2) do not review, copy, save, forward, or print this email or
any of its attachments, and (3) immediately delete and destroy this email, its attachments and all copies thereof. Unintended
transmission does not constitute waiver of the attorney-client privilege or any other privilege.

From: russracop@att.net [mailto:russracop@att.net]

Sent: Friday, June 29, 2018 3:50 PM
To: Hogan, Rick <rhogan@littlerock.gov>
Cc: Mann, Bill <BMann@littlerock.gov>; Betton, Alex <abetton@littlerock.gov>; Garcia, Caleb <cgarcia@littlerock.gov>
Subject: RE: RUSSELL R. RACOP v. CHIEF KENTON BUCKNER Case No. 60CV-18-3661

I am on my way downtown to pickup 20 dvds from LRPD in response to a previous FOI request. I can pick it up after
that. I’m headed out the door now. /RRacop

From: Hogan, Rick <rhogan@littlerock.gov> E

Sent: Friday, June 29, 2018 3:39 PM
To: 'russracop' <russracop@att.net>
Cc: Mann, Bill <BMann@littlerock.gov>; Betton, Alex <abetton@littlerock.gov>; Garcia, Caleb <cgarcia@littlerock.gov>
Subject: RE: RUSSELL R. RACOP v. CHIEF KENTON BUCKNER Case No. 60CV-18-3661

1
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