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By Lynda Hollenbeck
Courier Staff
State Rep. Lamont Cornwell of Benton said today that he did not intend to collect travel money he wasn’t due from the state.
Cornwell, a Democrat, said he has repaid the state $783.06 for mileage reimbursement he collected for a September 2007 trip to The Energy Council conference in Moran, Wyo.
He said he received the additional amount in error and repaid the difference when he was aware there was a problem.
“I’m elected to take care of Arkansas citizens’ money and I want to do the right thing,” Cornwell told the Courier in response to statewide reports that he received more than he was due in mileage reimbursement for attending the conference Wyoming.
Cornwell, 60, is serving his first term as a District 28 representative. He filed Monday for re-election.
Cornwell is opposed by fellow Democrat Barbara Nix of Benton. She is a teacher and president of the Benton Education Association and said she intends to file Thursday.
“If elected, I will look into sponsoring legislation that will regulate the spending system that is used for legislators’ trips,” Nix said today. “I want to make it uniform where the Automap system is used rather than odometer readings.”
Nix, 58, noted that Sen. Percy Malone, D-Arkadelphia, has said he wants to look into making Automap the official mileage system used for legislative trips. “I would like to work with him to sponsor legislation that would make this happen,” she said.
Cornwell confirmed that he received $2,225.25 from the Bureau of Legislative Research for round-trip mileage to the conference. He had submitted 4,650 miles on his reimbursement request and was reimbursed at a rate of 48.5 cents per mile.
“When I made the trip to Wyoming, it was an effort to understand more about energy. I looked at the drive — I don’t like to fly — and I elected to drive. When I left, I asked, ‘How do I handle the reporting?’
“I was told to submit my beginning and ending odometer readings and my receipts and that the state would take care of my expenses. When I got back, I did that and assumed it was handled correctly. I never intended nor desired to be reimbursed for additional travel that I took, but due to an error, it occurred.
“After it was brought to my attention that there was a problem, I paid the difference. That’s the way I’ve lived my life. I should not have been reimbursed for any additional amount.
“This was not caught initially at the state level and it should have been,” Cornwell said. “When it was brought to my attention last week, I contacted the state Legislative Council and learned they used an automatic mapping system to calculate travel expenses.
“Another senator made the same trip and his expenses were handled through that system. Mine weren’t, but should have been. When the error was discovered, I did what every good person should do: I wrote a check and paid it back. That was the right thing to do.”
The Automap system figures the most direct route, Cornwell said. “It takes you through every small town in America. It’s a route that most people would never take, but they figure the most direct route with the least miles possible.”
When he learned there was a discrepancy, Cornwell said he asked to be told the difference “and I said I’ll write you a check.”
Cornwell said the mileage expense check he turned in for the trip was the first he’s submitted since being elected to the Legislature. “I live so close to Little Rock that I’ve never submitted one before.
“The Legislative Council straightened it out for me,” he said. “They gave me the number and we wrote the check. I wanted to get it cleared up immediately. I got the numbers together Friday, and Monday morning I wrote the check.”
In making the trip, Cornwell drove north through South Dakota and Montana, then south to Wyoming. After the conference, he drove further south to Arizona, then east through New Mexico on his way home to Benton.
According to the Automap program, a mileage figure for a trip from Benton to Moran and back was calculated at 3,034 miles. The program reportedly calculates mileage from city limits to city limits without factoring in miles driven in a city.
Cornwell’s check reimbursed the state for the difference between the mileage figure he submitted and the Automap calculation.
David McCoy, a Republican, has said privately that he will file for Cornwell’s seat, but he has made no public announcement.
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