Gould Mayor Earnest Nash was released from a Star City jail late Thursday after spending more than a day there on an order by a circuit judge who found him in contempt of court. Official business in the city of 837 residents ground to a halt. And at the center of it all is a set of brass keys. Attorneys for Nash had been petitioning for his release from the Lincoln County jail since Circuit Judge Rob Wyatt Jr. of Pine Bluff found him in contempt of court Wednesday. Wyatt ordered Nash to turn over keys to the Gould recorder/treasurer’s office so Recorder/Treasurer Pam Barley-Gibson could conduct business there, but the court said the key given to her Wednesday only fit the office’s main door and not a storage area where documents are kept. Last week, Barley-Gibson asked Wyatt to find Nash in contempt and remove him from office immediately over the key issue. While Nash was in jail, his attorneys tried to get him out. Attorney Hank Bates of Little Rock wrote in a motion for the mayor’s release that Wyatt’s order of contempt “appears to be premised on incorrect information.” Further, Bates wrote that it was his understanding that “the key provided ... was to the recorder/treasurer’s office and that [Barley-Gibson] utilized the key to gain access to the recorder/treasurer’s office on the afternoon of Oct. 10.” Bates also wrote that Barley-Gibson “sought access to a locked closet within the recorder/treasurer’s office,” and that “she had communicated her desire for a key to the court in some fashion ...” The attorneys argued that the “order for contempt and body attachment had been issued for the arrest of [Nash] premised upon this communication.” In addition, Bates wrote that he is “unaware of what is in the closet and whether the contents include city records necessary for [Barley-Gibson

Justice! Cant rip off the system and expect to get away with it for long, but for Ernest, he thot he could sway the system and not get caught, sorry mr mayor, no bond for you, sit and ponder what u could have prevented while ur sitting behind cold bars...time to look for a different J-O-B....good luck with that.....

Justice! Cant rip off the system and expect to get away with it for long, but for Ernest, he thot he could sway the system and not get caught, sorry mr mayor, no bond for you, sit and ponder what u could have prevented while ur sitting behind cold bars...time to look for a different J-O-B....good luck with that.....

That's all we get? Sure would like to hear the whole story; sounds "interesting"!