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## How a Taxpayer-Funded Organization Orchestrated the Defeat of Citizens’ Petitions Across Multiple Counties
FOIA documents obtained from Independence County reveal a detailed, day-by-day coordination effort between the Association of Arkansas Counties (AAC) and county officials across at least six Arkansas counties to defeat paper ballot initiative petitions in 2024.
The documents – hundreds of pages of emails between county attorneys, AAC lawyers, and county clerks – show that decisions about petition sufficiency were not made independently by individual county clerks as required by law. Instead, they followed a centralized legal strategy directed by AAC Chief Counsel Mark Whitmore from his office in Little Rock.
## The Players
The coordination network included at least 15 individuals across multiple organizations:
**AAC Headquarters (Little Rock):**
– Mark Whitmore, Chief Counsel – the strategic leader
– Lindsey Bailey French, Legal Counsel – provided real-time legal feedback
– Colin Jorgensen, Attorney – legal analysis
– Chris Villines, Executive Director – cc’d on victory announcements
– Josh Curtis, Governmental Affairs Director
**County Attorneys:**
– Daniel Haney, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney and attorney for both Independence and Cleburne Counties
– Kolton Jones, Saline County Civil Attorney
– Chad Brown, Van Buren County
– Larry Kissee
**External Law Firm:**
– Daniel Faulkner, Jason Owens, and Mike Mosley of J. Owens Law Firm
## The Timeline
### August 3, 2024 – The Template
Before any petition had been formally declared insufficient, Mark Whitmore sent a second revised draft rejection letter to Conway County officials. The letter included pre-written language declaring petitions insufficient based on canvasser residency and ballot title arguments.
### August 5, 2024 – Distribution
Daniel Haney forwarded the AAC template to Independence County Clerk Tracey Mitchell, explicitly stating: “This is the letter draft that AAC has provided to me to state that the initiative petition is ‘insufficient’ due to lack of signatures.”
### August 7, 2024 – Rapid Response
When attorney Clinton Lancaster submitted affidavits defending canvasser residency, Haney responded within hours. He researched the hotel address (Home2 Suites, 820 Bill Dean Dr., Conway) and identified it as a commercial property, then distributed his analysis to Whitmore and French. Cleburne County Clerk Rachelle Evans asked Haney: “Are you going to draft a letter or do you think Mr. Whitmore will draft for Conway and we can use his?”
Haney drafted the rejection letter that evening and circulated it to at least six attorneys across the state.
### August 9, 2024 – Cross-County Evidence Sharing
Haney sent signature comparison documents to the group. Saline County Attorney Kolton Jones requested certified copies of petitions from Conway and Cleburne Counties. Whitmore immediately facilitated the connection, noting the petitions “had the actual (out of state addresses) obscure and concealed.”
### August 14-15, 2024 – Legal Blitz
The coordination intensified as lawsuits were filed:
– Haney emailed the group: “It’s begun!” with the Harrison v. Evans lawsuit attached
– Whitmore circulated draft briefs for Conway County to the entire network
– French provided line-by-line feedback on Haney’s motion to dismiss
– Jorgensen provided strategic analysis
– Tracey Mitchell sent the formal rejection letter to Lancaster – with Haney cc’d and the letter immediately forwarded to the entire coordination group
### August 16-17, 2024 – Working Through the Night
When Bryan Norris filed suit against Mitchell (32CV-24-271), Haney distributed it to 9 people within minutes. French immediately identified legal errors in the complaint. Jorgensen provided strategic arguments. Haney worked until 12:26 AM drafting briefs, emailing: “I’m running on fumes!”
### September 20, 2024 – Victory Lap
After Conway County won its case, Whitmore emailed the full group: “We won the paper ballots lawsuit in Conway County.” The responses were celebratory:
– “Bam! Well done” – Mike Mosley
– “Congrats!” – Lindsey French
– “Way to go Whit!!!” – Josh Curtis
– “THANKS MARK.!!!!” – Kathy Kordsmeier, Conway County Clerk
## The Cost Question
In his FOIA response to Bryan Norris, Daniel Haney stated: “There were no financial costs to the County in any of this litigation. I did not contract with outside counsel or consultants. I did not bill, nor did I use county funds.”
But the emails tell a different story. Haney coordinated with at least nine external attorneys. Whitmore, French, and Jorgensen – all AAC employees paid with county membership dues – provided extensive legal services. The J. Owens Law Firm contributed analysis and feedback.
The AAC is funded by dues from all 75 Arkansas counties – meaning taxpayers funded the legal campaign to defeat their own petitions.
## What This Means
County clerks are supposed to make independent determinations about petition sufficiency based on the law. These documents show they were instead following a coordinated strategy with template rejection letters, shared legal research, and real-time coaching from a centralized legal team.
When citizens across multiple counties exercised their right to petition for paper ballots, they weren’t just facing their local county clerk’s legal judgment. They were facing a well-organized, well-funded legal machine that had been planning its response before the first petition was even filed.
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*All claims in this article are sourced from FOIA documents obtained from Independence County officials. Original documents are available for review.*