JOHNSON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — The Johnson County Quorum Court met Tuesday to discuss the future of Sheriff Jimmy Stephens after he was arrested on drug and gun charges earlier this month.
"It's unfortunate that we've come to this point to have to do this," said Johnson County Justice of the Peace John Payne.
In a vote of 7-4, members voted in favor of a resolution requesting the sheriff take an official leave from his position.
“It’s nothing but a piece of paper. It means absolutely nothing other than this is what we’re requesting him to do,” said Greg Donaldson, Johnson County Justice of the Peace.
While the members are asking for Stephens to take an official leave, the quorum court has no jurisdiction to remove any elected official from office.
"That’s not the purpose of this court. That’s why we don’t have the authority to have him step down," said Justice of the Peace Jonathan Howard.
The arrest stemmed from the FBI looking into Stephens in reference to a corruption and illegal drug investigation. The FBI asked the Arkansas State Police to pull over Stephens after they witnessed him leave a home they believed to be involved in their investigation, which belonged to a couple.
After he was pulled over for speeding, the troopers asked if he had anything illegal in his patrol vehicle. According to the arrest affidavit, Stephens admitted to having three oxycodone and a small amount of marijuana and marijuana butter in his trunk.
He told state troopers that he was in Crawford County "visiting his confidential informants."
Stephens was charged with speeding, three separate counts of possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drugs and firearms.
He left jail on a $25,000 bond on Dec. 4.
According to Johnson County's PIO, Stephens is still Sheriff and Chief Deputy Jeremy Bennett has "always run the day-to-day operations."
“This is the most action that we can take,” Donaldson said. “This is the action that we should take.”
The court is asking him to turn in all county-owned property including his vehicle, badge and gun, and is requesting he take an official leave, which would be with pay per Arkansas law.
“I think we have a duty to the county to try to take care of the county and the citizens as well as the employees of the sheriff’s office,” Donaldson said.
"We have to show the citizens on Johnson County that we are acting proactively in this matter," said Justice of the Peace Paula Ober.
The request also asks Stephens to refrain from communications with any sheriff's office employees in reference to any law enforcement activities. The only exception to this would be those duties that he is legally required to do.
"In my mind, I keep going back to that, no official charges have been filed," said Justice of the Peace Kris Muldoon.
Johnson County Judge Herman Houston says filing charges can be a lengthy process.
"If they've been that far in advance and working on this, it looks to me it would have happened a lot quicker," said Justice of the Peace Mike Estes.
Donaldson says he believes Stephens is innocent until proven guilty. However, he was in favor of asking Stephens to step down. "If it were any other employee of the county of a municipality, you would've already been suspended with pay,"
In the quorum court's request for Stephens to step down, they say they would like to see Chief Deputy Jeremy Bennett take his place in the interim.
5NEWS has reached out to Stephens for comment have has not heard back at this time.
Click here to read the full statement Stephens released after his arrest in early December.