Arkansas Board of Corrections Chair Jamie Barker (right) and board member Lee Watson (left) during a special board meeting on Jan. 23, 2026. (Photo by Ainsley Platt/Arkansas Advocate)
The private attorney fired by the Arkansas Board of Corrections said the panel still owes him and his firm hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees for representing it in two long-running lawsuits, according to a letter obtained Tuesday by the Arkansas Advocate.
Abtin Mehdizadegan of the Hall Booth Smith law firm sent the letter to all current members of the board along with 191 pages of unpaid invoices and copies of his motions to withdraw as its attorney in the lawsuits…