Josh Duggar is moving his family out of Maryland, probably back to Arkansas
Of all the Duggar offspring, I think Josh Duggar was the only one “allowed” to move far away from the family. As the kids start to grow up and get married, the rest of them will be sticking closer to their family home in Arkansas. Jill and Jessa both moved out when they married their husbands, but it’s my understanding that both daughters are still pretty near to Jim-Bob and Michelle. So… was there a reason why Jim-Bob and Michelle were so eager to get Josh as far away as possible? My theory is that he was shoved out of the house ASAP because of the Duggars’ involvement in the Arkansas DHS investigation – everything would have gone a lot smoother if Josh just moved out of the house, right?
So, Josh moved out, married Anna and they brought their growing family to a home in Maryland, where Josh commuted to work at the Family Research Council. His work with the FRC was all “social issue” based – no gay marriage, no reproductive choice for women, no LGBTQ issues because, obviously, gay and transgender people are the REAL threat to children, not Josh Duggar. Well, when the Duggar sh-t hit the fan, Josh had to resign his position at the FRC. And now it seems that Josh and his family are putting their Maryland house on the market – TMZ and Us Weekly note that there were moving trucks outside of the Maryland home. TMZ says that Anna and Josh bought a home in Arkansas earlier this year, and sources believe that they will be moving back to Arkansas full-time now.
What else is going on? Well, in the Duggars’ Fox News interview, Jim-Bob and Michelle brought up the idea of a “lesbian agenda” to bring them down, starting with the “illegal release” of public records pertaining to In Touch Weekly’s FOIA request, which (according to the Duggars) was all part of some kind of bribe to the Springdale police chief, Kathy O’Kelley. As we keep saying, there was nothing illegal about any of it, and the police departments were actually required by law to turn over their records to meet the FOIA request. So the current mayor of Springfield, Ark, has some stuff to say. Mayor Doug Sprouse issued a very interesting statement, per In Touch:
The City will not dignify suggestions of misconduct in this matter by Chief O’Kelley with any comment beyond labeling them as outrageous and categorically false. Chief O’Kelley is a dedicated public servant whose career in law enforcement has been committed to duty and the adherence to the law.
With respect to the release of records pursuant to requirements of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the facts are these:
The City complied with each and every requirement of the FOIA with respect to the request for records.
Upon notification of the request for information pursuant to the FOIA request, the Chief of Police referred the matter to the Springdale City Attorney for an opinion as to whether the requested records were subject to public disclosure under the FOIA. As part of due diligence and in order to thoroughly analyze the request, the City also contacted the Arkansas Municipal League, the Arkansas State Police, the Washington County Juvenile Prosecuting Attorney within the Washington County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and made unsuccessful attempts to contact appropriate officials within the Arkansas Department of Human Services.
Out of courtesy with respect to the release of information in potentially sensitive situations, the Police Chief directed the family be notified of the FOIA request. The Police Chief further directed that the family be kept regularly informed as to the status of the request; the City’s analysis of the request and any action the City would take with respect to the request, including notification to the family that the City had an obligation under the FOIA law to release the redacted report.
Subsequently and consistent with and pursuant to advice of legal counsel, the City Attorney determined that the record – after thorough redaction — was subject to release under the FOIA.
Prior to release, the record went through several rounds of review that included redaction of the names of minors and all potentially identifying pronouns.
The Springdale Police Department files in this case are not part of juvenile proceedings, had not been sealed or expunged, and at the time the report was filed the person listed in the report was an adult, not a juvenile.
In 2014, the Chief indicated to the Mayor her intent to retire in 2015. In a letter to the Mayor on May 6, 2015, she formally notified the Mayor that she would be retiring as Chief of Police on June 30, 2015. With respect to the Police Chief’s reference to “unfinished business” cited in her retirement letter, those issues relate to issues of Departmental structure, organization and leadership succession planning and were not in reference to any case specific, including this one. Any suggestion or assertion otherwise is patently false.”
The accusations the mayor is responding to are insider-y, but if you’ve been following the stories or if you’ve watched the Duggars’ interviews, you know how harsh this statement is. This is the mayor of Springfield calling the Duggars liars. This is the mayor of Springfield telling the world that public officials followed the law and that the Duggars are still, to this day, lying their asses off.
Photos courtesy of Duggars’ social media.
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