LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An Arkansas state senator has lost his seniority and has been suspended for the rest of the session for making a "frivolous" ethics complaints against another senator.
State Senator Alan Clark (R-Lonsdale) was found guilty Tuesday for the "frivolous and spurious" accusations against fellow State Senator Stephanie Flowers (D-Pine Bluff).
Senators gathered to vote to remove him for the remainder of the General Assembly and stripped him of his seniority. The votes were 26-4-1 on both items, with Clark not to attending the vote.
Clark filed the ethics complaint against Flowers on August 18 with allegations that she violated a rule by accepting per diem payments for meetings she attended through Zoom.
An ethics committee report noted that Flowers contacted staff members about the deposits and reimbursed the payments.
His filing against Flowers came after the Senate approved the ethic committee's findings on July 21 that he violated rules when he asked another when he asked another senator to sign his name on a meeting he did not attend.
Clark will lose access to Senate offices and his email account and won't be allowed in legislative meetings, according to the Associated Press.