Fort Smith HR chief resigns amid hiring controversy

Rick Lolley, the City of Fort Smith human resources director involved in an ongoing controversy over a failed attempt to hire an internal auditor, has retired effective immediately, the city announced Saturday.

Lolley was hired in 2018 as the city’s chief human resources officer, and worked in compliance and human relations for 18 years prior to that with Rheem Manufacturing in Fort Smith.

“Rick Lolley has demonstrated considerable experience and instilled a level of professionalism in the city’s Human Resources Department over his seven years as its department head,” Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman said in the Saturday press release. “I wish Rick well as he moves on.”

Dingman did not respond to a question asking if Lolley’s retirement was related to the internal auditor issue.

The Fort Smith Board of Directors voted April 22 to hire Rebecca Cowan as internal auditor. After it was disclosed she faced a felony charge, the board rescinded the hiring on April 24. The city administrator and the internal auditor are the only two city jobs directly hired and fired by the board.

The board would authorize Dingman to initiate disciplinary action against Lolley for what they considered a failure to notify the board of Cowan’s background.

But questions remain about who is at fault for not alerting the board of Cowan’s background. Fort Smith attorney Joey McCutchen filed a lawsuit May 2 in which he alleged the city did not provide documents requested through the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) related to the internal auditor issue. McCutchen argued that Dingman knew Cowan had a felony charge and did not forward to the board documents from Lolley about her background.

Sebastian County Circuit Court Judge Dianna Hewitt Ladd issued an order June 5 finding that the city and Dingman did violate the FOIA. Based on findings during the hearing, Judge Ladd supported McCutchen’s assertion that Lolley provided background info.

“The Court is troubled by the timeline of events, the lack of transparency demonstrated by the City of Fort Smith and City Administrator Jeff Dingman, and by the missing background check which, according to the testimony, was provided by Mr. Rick Lolley to Mr. Jeff Dingman but was neither preserved nor produced in response to the FOIA request,” Ladd noted in her order.

The city noted in the Lolley retirement announcement that city officials “will begin the process of identifying new leadership for its Human Resources Department.”