Paul Doane, executive director of the $10.5 billion Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, resigned Thursday, confirmed Christa Clark, the system's chief counsel.
The resignation, given at a state legislative committee meeting on Thursday, comes after a state audit found that Mr. Doane spent $34,515 on out-of-state travel expenses between April 1, 2007 (the day he started with the Little Rock system) and April 30, 2008. The audit also showed that he spent about 47% of his work time traveling to out-of-state conferences or meetings, including eight trips to Boston and three to New Mexico; he owns residences in both states.
He also received travel expenses related to attending meetings of the Massachusetts Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission, on which he serves as a commissioner.
Ms. Clark said Mr. Doane will stay with the system while a search committee is formed to find a replacement. The board will hold a special meeting Oct. 30 to discuss Mr. Doane's departure date, form the committee and set a timeline for the search. She did not know if the system would hire an executive search firm.
Efforts to reach Mr. Doane were unsuccessful.
At the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee on State Agencies hearing, Mr. Doane said he felt he would no longer be able to work effectively with the state General Assembly and wanted the system to be able to "put the audit behind us," Ms. Clark said.
