Sheriff Robert Arnold suspended without pay

MURFREESBORO — A judge suspended jailed sheriff Robert Arnold on Monday without pay pending outcome of an ouster suit while Arnold awaits a February criminal trial in the JailCigs case.

"The court shall set a hearing shortly to adopt a scheduling order to expeditiously resolve this ouster proceeding," Davidson County Chancellor Bill Young said in his ruling. "Accordingly, the court finds good cause to hereby immediately suspend Sheriff Arnold from performing any duties of his office."

Arnold's salary as the Rutherford County sheriff is $127,078.

In addition to the civil ouster suit, Arnold, his uncle John Vanderveer and Joe Russell, a Rutherford County Sheriff's Office accounting chief, also face a 14-count federal indictment accusing them of illegally profiting from the inmates the sheriff oversees at the jail in Murfreesboro through the sale of JailCigs, an electronic cigarettes business. The three await a jury trial scheduled to begin Feb. 7 in Nashville before U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp.

Unlike Russell and Vanderveer, Arnold lost his pretrial release arrangement Sept. 28 when U.S. Magistrate Judge Alistair Newbern revoked the sheriff's $250,000 bond. Newbern, after a six-hour hearing, ruled that Arnold violated his release conditions and found probable cause that the sheriff had committed domestic assault, witness tampering and intimidation of his wife pertaining to a Labor Day altercation at the couple's Murfreesboro home.

Arnold, through his attorney Tom Dundon, then appealed to Sharp to release the sheriff based in part on a sworn statement from the sheriff's wife saying that she was not harmed and wanted her husband released. Her statement described Arnold as being a loving husband and father.

Sharp, however, ruled that Arnold should remain locked up after a Nov. 2 hearing at the federal court building in Nashville that included the sheriff testifying sometimes tearfully for three hours in his gray prison jumpsuit. Arnold has been detained in an isolated cell at the Grayson County Jail in Kentucky, where other federal inmates are staying.

The prosecution asserted that Arnold should remain locked up based on jail recorded phone conversations he had with his wife. Sharp agreed that the sheriff had lied and intimidated his wife into making her sworn statement, such as telling her falsely that a gang hit had been ordered on him. The judge's ruling mentioned the sheriff's suggestion to his wife that he'd cut her out of his will or that he'd commit suicide.

When it comes to the suspension, Young is presiding over a civil ouster suit filed by Murfreesboro attorney Michelle Blaylock-Howser on behalf of 12 Rutherford County residents seeking to remove Arnold from office based on the JailCigs case.

"At this time, this court can envision no circumstance under which Sheriff Arnold can effectively maintain this high level of trust with the public as well as continue to perform his constitutional and statutory law enforcement obligations," Young ruled.

"He is not only currently incarcerated but is also under the cloud of a 14-count federal indictment alleging he has violated his public trust by misusing and inappropriately profiting from his publicly elected position," Young's ruling added. "His incarceration, and the preparation of his defense to the charges set forth in this indictment, will undoubtedly unduly distract him from performing his public duties."

The chancellor also mentioned how Franklin County Sheriff Tim Fuller testified that it would be almost impossible to run a law enforcement office from a jail cell.

"The same is most assuredly true for Sheriff Arnold," Young said in his ruling. "But, even more importantly, this federal indictment and the serious charges it contains has severely and perhaps irretrievably undermined the confidence of the public, and especially the citizens of Rutherford County, in Sheriff Arnold. A sheriff charged with the public trust to enforce the laws cannot maintain that trust when he is the target of a criminal prosecution alleging he violated the very laws he has sworn an oath to uphold."

The chancellor also noted how state law permits the sheriff's pay to be suspended while also allowing the salary and other legal costs to be restored should Arnold be cleared of charges and able to return to complete his four-year term, which he won in his re-election as a Republican in August 2014. Arnold first won his seat in August 2010.

"Moreover, the citizens of Rutherford County should not have the burden of paying two persons to perform the job of sheriff, given that defendant Arnold's vacant position must be filled once he is suspended (according to state law)," the chancellor said.

The suspension makes Chief Deputy Randy Garrett acting sheriff until the Rutherford County Commission can appoint an interim sheriff, who could serve either until Arnold is acquitted or the next election could be held.

Although Arnold has been present for the criminal court hearings in the JailCigs case, he's not been able to attend the ouster suit hearings, which are also being held in Nashville. Arnold, however, was able to witness the civil proceedings after his attorney made arrangements through a digital tablet.

Young also mentioned the jail phone conversations from Arnold in granting the plaintiffs' request to suspend Arnold without pay.

The plaintiffs seeking to remove Arnold from office are James Robert Gann III, Avna Paul Justice III, Leslie Ann Justice, Joseph Liggett, Ronald Robertson, David Criswell, Jami Kristin Averwater, Gregory Thomas Grant, Sandra Kay Lane, Sheena Renee Moreland, Gregory Wayne Brown and Candace Lynne White.

Reach Scott Broden at 615-278-5158 and on Twitter @ScottBroden.