County clerk arrested outside Oklahoma casino

Friday, July 15, 2005 | 9:47 a.m.

WALDRON, Ark. -- Scott County's finances are getting a good look from state police investigators after the county clerk was arrested on drug charges outside a casino in Oklahoma, authorities say.

County Clerk James Owens and his girlfriend, Lisa Yandell, a deputy clerk in Owens' office, were arrested Tuesday after a drug-sniffing dog alerted on their car following a traffic stop, according to Pocola, Okla., Police Chief Eric Helms.

They were released Wednesday after posting $15,000 bail each, the LeFlore County district attorney's office said.

Owens, 44, and Yandell, 37, were pulled over after their vehicle nearly collided with another one as they drove away from the Choctaw Nation casino in Pocola, Helms said.

After a drug dog alerted on the car, it was searched, Helms said, and two plastic bags were found that tested positive for methamphetamine residue. The two Arkansans were arrested on suspicion of possessing methamphetamines and drug paraphernalia, Helms said.

In Scott County, prosecutor Tom Tatum said he had asked Arkansas State Police to investigate Owens. Tatum said he also asked the state Legislative Audit Division to look into the accounts of the county clerk's office.