Rescinding Resignation, Garland, Ark., Mayor Says

Garland Mayor Yvonne Dockery, who agreed last week to resign from office as part of a plea deal on a theft charge, says she's rescinding that resignation and is trying to withdraw her guilty plea.

In a filing Monday with Miller County Circuit Court at Texarkana, Dockery accused Prosecutor Brent Haltom of prosecutorial misconduct, forcing her into the agreement "under duress."

Dockery claims in the filing that she was "manipulated, devastated, and under duress when my attorney Lott Rolfe and ... Haltom made an agreement forcing me to sign a letter of resignation." Her filing included a request to withdraw a guilty plea she entered Friday to a theft charge.

As part of the plea deal, she was sentenced to two years' probation. The theft charge accused Dockery of illegally receiving pay greater than the salary authorized by the City Council.

Source: AP