CAVE SPRINGS -- A Facebook page is at the center of a lawsuit involving Cave Springs and its elected city clerk/treasurer.
Justin Eichmann, an attorney for Cave Springs, filed suit Friday in Benton County Circuit Court against Kimberly Hutcheson, the city's clerk-treasurer. The lawsuit seeks control of what it contends is the city's Facebook page.
The lawsuit claims Hutcheson's refusal to return the Facebook page constitutes deliberate intent to exercise dominion over the city's property in violation of its rights to ownership and possession.
Neither Hutcheson nor Cave Springs Mayor Randall Noblett returned phone calls and emails to each Monday morning seeking comments on the lawsuit.
Hutcheson, who was first elected in 2015, created a social media page in June 2017 for the city, according to the complaint. The lawsuit claims Hutcheson has acknowledged and admitted she created and administered the page on the city's behalf.
A policy in the city's personnel handbook states if a social media platform requires a city employee to create a business account in the employee's own name, that account must be transferred to another city employee or city official upon the mayor's request, according to the lawsuit.
The handbook declares all official city social media accounts, websites and blogs are the property of and must be owned or controlled by the city, according to the complaint.
The contact email for the city's page prior to July 22, 2025, was kimberly.hutcheson@cavespringsar.gov, which is Hutcheson's city email address, and she had administrative control of the page from June 2017 until at least June 2025, according to the complaint.
The city used the page to post information on city events, meetings and meeting agendas, emergency information, public notices, recordings of City Council and Planning Commission meetings, and other city information, according to the lawsuit. The page had over 3,000 followers, the lawsuit states.
The complaint states that on Feb. 28, 2025 the City Council removed Hutcheson's assigned payroll and human resources duties after concerns about her work performance, and the responsibilities were assigned to another employee.
The lawsuit accuses Hutcheson of deactivating the page either in retaliation for the council's partial removal of her duties or in an effort to restrict the city's ability to publish information reflecting unfavorably on her.
The council later voted to remove payroll duties after the city found errors by Hutcheson, including those resulting in the city incurring Internal Revenue Service penalties and interest of over $125,000 and other fees that cost the city more than $30,000, according to the complaint. The council voted Aug. 26, 2025, to assign the statutory duties of the treasurer from Hutcheson to another city employee, according to the lawsuit.
Hutcheson filed a lawsuit in September 2025 in federal court against the city for revoking her statutory treasurer duties. In February, a federal judge denied Hutcheson's request for an injunction to regain her treasurer duties.
The lawsuit argues Hutcheson reactivated the page Oct. 12, 2025, without the mayor's approval and renamed it Cave Springs NWA.
Hutcheson is accused in the lawsuit of using the reactivated page in March to promote herself personally, promote herself politically as she seeks reelection and to disclaim any responsibility for the city's finances.
The contact email for the page continued to be Hutcheson's city email address, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit contends when Hutcheson reactivated the page and improperly renamed it, she unjustly retained the benefit of the thousands of followers for her own personal use. The lawsuit argues Hutcheson's continued posts on the page and not returning the property reflects bad faith on her.
The lawsuit seeks a court order that the page is the property of the city and administration of the page must be returned to another city employee or city official.
The case is assigned to Benton County Circuit Judge John Scott.
Noblett previously filed a complaint against Hutcheson with the Arkansas Ethics Commission about the Facebook issue.
However, the commission found the city clerk-treasurer's Facebook page does not violate state ethics laws. The commission dismissed the ethics complaint regarding the page in a 5-0 vote.
PRIOR LAWSUIT
This is not Hutcheson's first legal tangle with other city elected officials.
In February 2017, she filed a lawsuit against then-mayor Travis Lee and the City Council, claiming they violated her constitutional rights by restricting her ability to do her job.
The council had voted in October 2015 to merge the recorder and treasurer positions. The council appointed Hutcheson, who already was serving as recorder, to be treasurer. However, the council failed to list the duties of treasurer as part of the merger, according to Hutcheson's lawsuit.
The lawsuit also accused Lee of having a personal grudge against Hutcheson and locking her out of her office, which prevented her from performing her job.
A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in August 2017, finding Hutcheson did not have sufficient facts to support her case.
One year later, Hutcheson filed another lawsuit against Lee accusing him of defaming her. Benton County Circuit Judge Xollie Duncan signed an order dismissing that lawsuit in January 2020.
Tracy M. Neal can be reached by email at tneal@nwaonline.com.