Cultivation seeks to disqualify Arkansas Attorney General's Office in lawsuit

Southern Roots Cultivation, known as 2600 Holdings, has asked the Arkansas Attorney General's Office to disqualify the Arkansas Attorney General's Office from defending the Department of Finance and Administration in their ongoing lawsuit.

The cultivator alleges that the office has a conflict of interest due to the involvement of Doralee Chandler, a former director of Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Division, who is currently working in the Attorney General's Office.

Former Director Chandler cannot represent the same defendants with whom she has unwaivable conflicts, and the Attorney General to whom she reports should be disqualified as counsel in this proceeding because these conflicts are imputed, according to the motion.

The lawsuit challenges the state's decision to award River Valley Production the medical marijuana cultivation license to River Valley Production, another cultivation company, alleging that regulators misled them over Southern Roots.

The case awaiting further developments as the commission is set to vote on renewing River Valley's license.