BENTON, AR – Former Saline County sheriff Bruce Pennington has pleaded not guilty to charges of Theft of Property and Abuse of Public Trust.
Pennington appeared this morning in Saline County Circuit Court.
The former sheriff was arrested on May 16 after being accused of stealing money from the Saline County Sheriff’s Office and reducing the community service sentence for a friend in exchange for the installation of marble countertops in his home.
Pennington is also accused of stealing $800 from a jail phone kiosk and using it to pay fines from a previous Public Intoxication and Resisting Arrest charge stemming from a June 2013 altercation with Benton Police outside a restaurant.