Ballinger pays Ag Days debt, draws criticism from attorney

State Sen. Bob Ballinger’s bill for advertising in the program for Green Forest’s annual Agriculture Appreciation Days has been paid, a source said late last week. Two separate sources, each of whom asked not to be identified, confirmed recently that Ballinger had not paid for advertising in the program for the past three years. One of those sources said Friday, May 20, that Ballinger paid the past-due amount and also purchased advertising space in this year’s program. Meanwhile, one of the attorneys who successfully challenged an $18 charge being assessed to residents in Carroll County and five other counties in north Arkansas in connection with a defunct Baxter County landfill said on Twitter that Ballinger lied about his willingness to testify in a class-action lawsuit that ultimately led to the fee being declared illegal. Fayetteville-based attorneys Matt Bishop and Wendy Howerton filed lawsuits in each of the six counties affected by the $18 charge. A hearing on the Carroll County lawsuit was held March 6, 2020.

Bishop and Howerton issued a subpoena for Ballinger to testify, but withdrew it after Ballinger filed an emergency motion with the Arkansas Supreme Court the day before the hearing was scheduled, requesting that the hearing be stayed. That followed Carroll County Circuit Judge Scott Jackson’s denial of a motion by Ballinger to quash the subpoena. That motion argued that “any testimony of Senator Ballinger is protected by legislative privileges and immunity …”

Bishop said at the time that he chose to withdraw the subpoena for Ballinger rather than risk having the hearing delayed.

In a comment on the Ballinger campaign’s Facebook page on Friday, May 20, a local resident asked: “Didn’t you get the subpoena, to have you testify on behalf of your constituents to get us that $18 tax back, quashed because you didn’t like the lawyer that was fighting for your constituents quashed because you wouldn’t?”

The campaign page responded: “I showed up that day to testify of my own free will and was told that they didn’t need me.”

Bishop responded on Twitter, tagging Ballinger.

“Wow @Bob_Ballinger,” Bishop tweeted. “I cannot believe you’re lying like this! You went to the Arkansas Supreme Court to keep from going under oath. Your filings are public record!! You were going to have the case pushed off so you didn’t have to testify. That’s why I released your subpoena.”

In another tweet, Bishop wrote: “When a politician will lie about something so easily verifiable that’s a massive red flag.”

Ballinger did not respond to Bishop’s Twitter posts. In response to a text message asking if he’d like to comment on the Ag Days payment or Bishop’s Twitter posts, he shared a screen shot of a Facebook user making disparaging comments toward his wife.

“Why wouldn’t you cast one ounce of a critical eye towards King, or any of the other candidates,” Ballinger wrote. “You know, the way journalism is supposed to work. Your obsession with getting me is making you a tool of a bitter man.

“This comment was made towards my wife who is recovering from cancer. Between King, and his patsies in the media, the passions of evil people are burning.”

Ballinger, who holds the District 5 seat in the Arkansas State Senate, is running for the District 28 seat after the state’s legislative districts were redrawn following the 2020 U.S. Census. He is one of five candidates seeking the Republican nomination in Tuesday’s preferential primary.

His opponents are Bryan King of Green Forest, Bob Largent of Harrison, state Rep. Keith Slape of Compton and Ted Walker of Huntsville. Jim Wallace of Eureka Springs is unopposed in the Democratic primary and will face the winner of the Republican primary in November’s general election.