The owner of the Dallas Cowboys Jerry Jones will receive an ethical violation warning for providing game tickets, airfare, and hotel reservations to over 100 police officers.
Jones argued in front of a North Little Rock, Arkansas, city council commission that his gift, valued at approximately $300,000, was a tribute to his home town’s police officers. Jones said that the gifts were not payment for ordinary work performed by police, but to “send a positive message of the work police do outside of their normal jobs,” reported ArkansasMatters.com.
Arkansas state law does not allow public servants to receive gifts of over $100.
Internet blogger Russ Racop exposed the first time violation and has come under fire for his criticism of the goodwill extended to the men and women in blue. As it turns out, Racop has been outed with having his own set of issues with the court system, reported the Arkansas Times.
Former Attorney General Dustin McDaniel is offering free legal services to any of the officers who received the gift. However, according to the Times, Little Rock has no intention of treating the gifts as taxable income.
Fortunately for Jones, a first violation of the law is considered a minor offense, subject only to a warning.
Next time Jerry can just send his money to Black Lives Matters, where he will avoid admonition and probably relieve a hardy round of applause.