Representative Matthew J. Shepherd

Judiciary Committee (House) — March 20, 2025 (17:31)

do have to appear in court. Right. But I just wanted to be clear on what is actually required and what could potentially be waived. And so you've clarified that for me. Sure. So thank you. Representative Springer, did you have

Judiciary Committee (House) — March 20, 2025 (15:40)

of consent or they can waive the requirement that the child actually appear in court to give consent? Thank you

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (1:01:25)

State of Arkansas be adjourned. It's a proper motion. It's not debatable. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes. Thank you.

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (1:01:06)

ballot, Mr. Clerk. By a vote of 88 yeas and

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (1:01:10)

four nays, the resolution has passed.

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (1:00:10)

Gates. And I'll close as I begin. We should hold ourselves to the highest standards of conduct and ethics. I ask that you join me in the effort to move our state in a positive direction, to make our citizens, neighbors, and children proud of the work we do. Thank you for your time and consideration,

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (1:00:27)

and I would appreciate a vote in

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (59:39)

I don't want you to vote on this based on Representative Gates or who he is or whether he's your friend or whether you like him or whether he's a Republican. I want you to vote based upon the fact of the matter that an individual has pled no contest to a felony charge, is serving probation, And are we going to allow that to stand in our house? I would hope that we have higher standards than that, with all due respect to Representative

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (59:05)

for us to approve this resolution and to expel Representative Gates. And I want to disagree slightly with something else that Representative Gates said. He said today is about him. I'm going to remind you of something I said on the first day of this session. What we do here is not about us. Our service here is not about me. It's not about you. It's about the people of Arkansas.

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (58:33)

and I think today this is a question for each of us. What are our standards? What kind of house are we going to be? How do we want the people of Arkansas to view us? Representative Gates is correct. He was re-elected by the citizens of his district at a point when he was pleading not guilty to the charges. But the fact of the matter is he has now pled no contest. He is now serving as probation, and therefore I believe it's entirely appropriate and proper

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (58:03)

But now he's had his day in court. He pled no contest. He took advantage of the statutes that are out there, and properly so. But at the point that he pled no contest, at the point that he agreed to the terms of that plea agreement than, as I said previously, that puts the honest on us. There's been a lot over the last four or five years about what kind of legislature we are. There have been a lot of misdeeds by some of our former members,

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (57:31)

who is under probation to pay back money to the state of Arkansas, who has had their rights somewhat restricted, who has waived their ability to contest those charges, do you think that person should still be in the General Assembly? I think that most Arkansans would say no. If Representative Gates, as I alluded to, as long as he pled not guilty, I was of the opinion that he should have his day in court.

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (57:00)

surrendering his ability to possess a firearm, submitting to a DNA test, restricting his travel. I think it comes back to just the fact that as we think about this, as we think about who we are as an institution, I think if you went out and asked the average Arkansan, do you think you should file your taxes, they'd probably begrudgingly say, yeah, we should. But then if you ask the average Arkansan, do you think that someone who has pled no contest to failing to file those taxes,

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (56:29)

I understand that Representative Gates may challenge that. He may challenge the constitutionality of that, but we still have the legal authority to take the right and proper steps forward. You know, with regard to the legal proceedings that Representative Gates has been involved with, and while they are ongoing, the fact of the matter is he pled no contest to a felony charge of failing to pay taxes. Part of that plea agreement was paying back $74,000-plus to the state of Arkansas,

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (55:56)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just in closing, to respond to just a few items, no one

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (56:02)

is suggesting that this is a conviction. If he had been convicted, then the resolution and the action would probably look a bit differently. But what I am suggesting is we have the power and authority of the House by virtue of the Constitution to take action. I believe the statute that we passed at least expresses what our intention would be and what the will of this body is. And beyond that, at this point, it's binding law.

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (29:22)

in the way that I best see fit, ultimately, with regard to constitutionality of the other statute or any other issue. People can file lawsuits and challenge all kinds of things. And we see that legislatively all the time, threats of litigation or otherwise. I believe that this is appropriate. It's consistent with our responsibility to the House and that this is a matter for us to take up today in short mason's manual legal authority says previous legislature can't bind us with regard to process but even beyond this this is not

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (29:53)

a judicial proceeding thus it's not an action

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (28:45)

on firm footing. Even if it were a close call, I still believe this is a matter for the house to decide. I don't know why we would refer it over to somebody else to make some kind of recommendation. I believe the nature of the resolution in that my focus is on the plea of no contest. It's very simple and straightforward, and so I'm comfortable with the process we've laid out. You know, as with anything else, and certainly with regard to anything that when you go to court or otherwise, you know, this is something that has not been taken up in many years. And we're handling this

Meeting — Oct. 11, 2019 (28:11)

as understood by common legal principles and by Arkansas courts, is an ordinary judicial proceeding. That would be going to court. I've not gone to court. We've merely taken up an internal house matter. And so all the legal authorities that I've consulted with have indicated to me that we are very, let me say this, courts generally don't weigh into matters of internal legislative matters with regard to discipline. But we believe that we're