Ouachita County Coroner Sylvester Smith, Jr. has filed a request for judicial review following the State Board of Embalmers' decision to revoke his funeral directors license and the license of Williams Funeral Home, which he owns and runs.
On May 17, the State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors found Smith and Williams Funeral Home in violation of state statutes and unanimously voted to revoke the licenses.
Board members cited a failed inspection, where OSHA violations, clutter and health and safety hazards were allegedly observed, in voting for the revocation. Smith Jr. was not in attendance at the meeting where his licenses were revoked.
Court documents filed in Ouachita County Circuit Court state Smith and the funeral home are appealing the decision and that "the findings and sanctions have caused the substantial rights of the Petitioners to be violated in several ways."
The documents also state that there, "can be no danger to the public due to the conditions of of areas like the morgue where they have no access. "
A letter from Smith's attorney and son, Sylvester Smith III states, "the revocations of the licenses will have a dramatic effect on the business and render its employees without work."
It goes on to state, "Because there is no possibility of harm to the public by allowing Williams and Smith, Jr to keep operating, versus significant harm to the business and employees if they close we respectfully request a stay of the revocation Order."
The appeal also states that "The outsized punishment handed down is demonstrative of a punishment that is arbirtrary, capricious and characterized by abuse of discretion," noting that previous license revocations in other cases involved theft of thousand of dollars, fraud and in one instance, a murder conviction.
"We are appealing to the circuit judge to look over the records of the hearing and some things we just don't agree with," Smith, Jr. said. "There's a lot of things the public didn't know about this whole case."
Smith Jr. said the inspection came during the peak of COVID-19 infections in Ouachita County and his job as coroner took up the majority of his time.
"The problem was this whole thing was done in like September of 2020. That was at the height of the pandemic; I was going 24/7. I had five people die from COVID in one day in this county. So I went days without any sleep," he said. "I take this job that people have given me personal and I take it very seriously."
To date, there have been 109 deaths resulting from COVID-19 in Ouachita county, according to the Arkansas Department of Health.
Smith, Jr. also stated that the inspection came at a time when the ownership of Williams Funeral Home was in dispute.
"Miss Fraulene Rogers had sold me this place. All of a sudden her heirs came and said she had dementia and that I took advantage of her by her selling me this place. I went to court and I won in court... I was dealing with that at the time," Smith, Jr. said. "People have to understand, at the time with this being tied up in court, I didn't actually own the building until the judge hit the gavel and said I did."
Court documents show that Rogers made Smith manger and entered into an option for him to purchase " all assets and liabilities" of Williams funeral home.
Smith Jr. also stated that he wasn't trying to disrespect the Board of Funeral Directors by not showing up to the hearing and that it was a misunderstanding in scheduling that led to his absence.
"I have served on that board. I served on that board for three years and I know the seriousness about it. I had a perfect attendance record. So, just to sit around and think I would discount that board, that's crazy," he said.
Now that the case is in the hands of a judge, it can either be upheld, remanded or readjusted as the judge sees fit.