Small-Town Police Chief, Wife in Drug, Sex Scandal

Feb. 10, 2006 — -- A small Arkansas town has been rocked by the arrests of the police chief, his wife, the mayor, and several others on a wide array of crimes -- from conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and burglary, to having sex with jail inmates.

Arrested on Monday were Ronald Jay Campbell, the now-former Lonoke police chief, who faces multiple felony charges relating to drug and theft allegations, and his wife, Kelly Harrison Campbell, who was charged with having sex with two inmates. Their attorneys have said the two will plead not guilty.

The arrests forced a special city council meeting Wednesday night, when Lonoke Mayor Thomas Privett accepted the chief's resignation.

"I have a motion and a second to accept Chief Jay Campbell's resignation effective immediately. All in favor say 'aye,'" Privett said at the meeting.

"I've got a city to run. I've got a business to run, and that's what I intend to do," Privett said, but he is facing charges himself. He was also arrested on Monday, on misdemeanor charges of theft of services related to allegations that he had state prisoners do personal work for him.

The scandal has left residents in the community of 4,287 demanding accountability.

"If you do something to this degree, then you deserve to face the punishment for it," Lonoke resident Patricia Brown said. "Resigning is just the easy way out. It may give us a reputation where you can't trust anyone here. You never know what's going on."

The prosecutor handling the case said that accountability was what the people of Lonoke would get.

"Nobody is above the law, nobody," Lonoke County Prosecutor Lona McCastlain said.

Privett was taken into custody and released after posting $500 bond. Because he is only facing a misdemeanor charge, he has been allowed to remain in his post.

In a news release, Privett said he wanted to assure the citizens of Lonoke, "that there would be no disruption in the quality of law enforcement that they are accustomed to" during the search for a new sheriff.