Little Rock Attorney Jailed Twice in One Month

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Summary: An Arkansas attorney was jailed on separate occasions for drugs and failed child support charges in the same month.

A 46-year-old Little Rock lawyer was placed in jail twice this month on separate charges. Christopher Robert Hart’s latest visit was for not paying child support for two kids from two different marriages.

  

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Hart was ordered by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Vann Smith to be booked into the county jail and released the same day. He was arrested two days prior by Pulaski County sheriff’s deputies. Hart could be released if he paid $10,000 in child support for his 16-year-old son from a marriage that ended in 2004.

In March 2016, the state Office of Child Support Enforcement wanted Hart to be held in contempt, claiming he owed $38,338 in child support. In August, he claimed he had been “continually insolvent” until recently because he was trying to develop a private practice. In January, the judge ordered him to pay $23,206 plus 10 percent annual interest for a 12-year span. The rate was set at $732 per month. He also must pay $230 per month in child support to a 7-year-old son from his second marriage which ended in 2015.

Hart has been a licensed attorney since 2003. He had spent the last several years as an attorney for the state, working as a former assistant attorney general and a former lawyer for the Department of Finance and Administration.

Hart did not show up to a contempt hearing on the missing child support, a proceeding that Hart has requested to be delayed many times before. On the day of the hearing, he claimed he was supposed to be in another court for a client. A bailiff went to look for Hart but he could not be found. When he did not appear for another hearing, the judge ordered his arrest.

Garland County Circuit Court records show that Hart had been arrested the day before in Hot Springs after showing up late to a hearing on drug and alcohol charges. When he did arrive to the arraignment, he was under the influence of alcohol and failed a drug test. He posted a $10,000 bond six days later.

Hart went to jail the first time for felony counts of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia as well as misdemeanor for public intoxication. Hart had been found asleep in his car outside a restaurant two hours before it opened back in December. When Hart got out of the car, a strong alcohol smell surrounded him and a syringe filled with a clear liquid fell from his lap. His speech was slurred and his eyes were bloodshot. He claimed that he visited a friend the night before where he had a pint of Vodka. The officer found 1.4 grams of methamphetamine in a small baggie and more syringes inside a backpack in the car. The fluid in the syringe tested negative for drugs. He posted $8,000 bond two days after the first initial arrest.

Do you think there should be harsher punishments for people that fail to pay child support? Tell us in the comments below.

To learn more about cases regarding child support, read these articles:

• Father of 30 Children Asks for Break in Child Support Payments
• Powerball Winner Owes $29,000 in Child Support
• Kansas Court Rules Sperm Donor to Lesbian Couple Must Pay Child Support

Photo: arkansasonline.com