The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Arkansas" ...
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Broken Justice in Phillips County
A five-part series preceded by an initial investigation into dysfunction in the criminal justice system in an Arkansas Delta county known for corruption and poverty. The year-long investigation uncovered errors and archaic practices in the handling of fugitive warrants and speedy trials that allowed felony suspects to remain free for years without fear of answering to the charges against them. As a result, prosecutors had to drop hundreds of cases for failure to take them to trial in a timely manner. Since publication, the Phillips County sheriff has made changes in how his office handles failure-to-appear warrants, and court officials have reduced case backlogs. Nevertheless, problems persist.
Tags: Criminal justice system; corruption; poverty; fugitive warrants
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Gift With Strings Trips UCA President
Investigation of the misappropriation of funds by a former UCA President.
Tags: University of Central Arkansas; Gifts; College; President
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State Autos
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette investigated the number, taxability, and use of state vehicles by state officials. The reporters found that officials weren't paying income taxes on the personal use of their state vehicles and that the state had not been keeping track of the number of state vehicles.
Tags: state vehicles; income tax; state cars; elected officials
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"Losing 'Letta"
A sloppy police investigation led to a mother waiting 27 painful years for her daughter's remains to be identified. The girl was 12 when she disappeared from her Little Rock home. A girl's remains were located in 1991, but DNA testing did not reveal a match. In 2009, a retest was done after "prodding" from reporters. This time, the test revealed a match and the child's case was ruled a homicide.
Tags: Little Rock; DNA test; Arkansas Crime Lab; FBI
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"Let out early..."
To make room for new residents, the Arkansas Youth Services Division released 11 offenders from a juvenile detention center before their sentence was complete. Nine of those 11 were discharged despite objections from detention center workers. Only a short time later, one of the boys was arrested and charged with "capital murder, theft of property and fleeing."
Tags: Youth Services; Jacobia Twiggs; Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center; Antonio Terry; Human Services Division of Youth Services
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The Mysterious Death of Janie Ward
This hour-long report is a result of a five-year investigation into the death of a 16-year-old girl 20 years ago in a small town in the Ozarks. It's about two daughters -- one wealthy and popular (a cheerleader and beauty queen); the other poor and self-conscious. It's about two fathers -- one a powerful judge who allegedly shielded his daughter from the law he's sworn to uphold; the other a bail bondsman who is trying to avenge his daughter's death. And it's about one family's fight for justice against what they believe is a corrupt judicial system that closed ranks around the powerful judge to cover-up a murder. When 16-year-old Jamie Ward fell off a 9-inch porch in the woods near Marshall, Ark., on September 9, 1989, her parents refused to blieve that the fall had killed their healthy teenager. Instead, they began to suspect to suspect she was murdered by the judge's daughter. After years of demanding an investigation into her death, an independent medical examiner associated with Parents for Murdered Children exhumed Janie's body a second time for an extremely rare third autopsy. Because the case was 20 years old, most of the files were not digital; rather, the investigation focused on old-fashioned reporting: finding and interviewing eyewitnesses (all of whom had not been reinterviewed since the original investigation); analyzing inconsistencies in the witness statements, double-checking the forensics with independent experts.
Tags: autopsy; unsolved death; forensic science; criminal justice system; reopened cases; Arkansas
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Lost Paradise
People who bought retirement or hunting property in north Arkansas learned too late that developer Wayne Watkins didn't record their sales at the county courthouse and that he used land he sold to them as collateral for $2.6 million in loans. When he defaulted, banks foreclosed. Because no legal record existed of the buyers' ownership interest, banks often sold the land again.
Tags: banks; lending; housing; loans; fraud; housing scams; foreclosure
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The Secret University
Lu Hardin, popular president of the University of Central Arkansas , received a $3000,000 bonus, approved in secret by the college's board of trustees - a violation of Arkansas' Freedom of Information Act. Trustees told the reporter that the bonus came from private funds, but she discovered that the board had used public funds in violations of rules capping the amount of public funds that can be used for college presidents' salaries.
Tags: university fraud; sweetheart deals; improper use of funds; Lu Hardin; University of Central Arkansas; bonus; salaries;
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Felons Hunting with guns slip past state law
More than 850 felons had been found to hunt and kill deer with a "modern firearm," which is not allowed by state law. It was discovered that state agencies did not run background checks on felons before issuing a hunting license.
Tags: deer season; game tag; Arkansas Game and Fish Commission; convict; weapon; rifle;
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Huck's gift-givers ended up in state posts
Records from Virginia and Arkansas showed that 2008 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee received 90 gifts from 21 people in Arkansas he appointed to state posts while governor.
Tags: bribe; Federal Election Commission; donation;