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The University of Central Arkansas has formally requested an attorney general's opinion about the legality of the $300,000 pay supplement paid President Lu Hardin in May.

Can the university pay in excess of 125 percent of statutory pay (Hardin's is $253,000) if the money comes from a Board of Trustees discretionary fund? The attorney general will provide counsel.

There is, by the way, an additional wrinkle in the question of pay in excess of statutory limits to Hardin. It's not widely known and hasn't been mentioned in recent reporting, but in May 2007, the Board of Trustees authorized a $100,000 bonus for Hardin on his fifth anniversary as president for meeting professional targets set by the Board. That bonus was approved in a public Board meeting. (Quick arithmetic: In the course of 24 months, Hardin has received more than $900,000 in pay from UCA.)

But, if Hardin is limited to 125 percent of pay, that particular bonus in 2007 further complicates his potential excess pay situation. The $300,000 was early payoff of a deferred compensation plan originally promised in 2005 to be accrued at the rate of $60,000 a year and paid after Hardin stayed five years. It was paid two years early, Trustee Rush Harding has said, because other institutions were rumored to be interested in hiring Hardin away.

Seems to me they need to address the question of the legality of his total pay in 2007, too, given the $100,000 bonus.

I hope, for the sake of UCA's current embarrassment and preoccupation, that the college gets a permissive answer on its actions. I think the actions were taken with good intentions to reward exemplary performance.

But for the sake of good government, I hope the college gets a negative answer. It is bad practice for public institutions to carve out ways to pay special bonuses with cash funds. Like it or not, the legislature writes the law. It establishes salary maximums for public officials. Governing bodies with access to special money shouldn't have the ability to run end-runs on the law. In this case, it might seem justified. But you can be sure the power would be regularly abused and difficult to track.

Maybe I'll check back. Maybe I won't. Meanwhile, you're on your own.

I wrote former first lady Janet Huckabee soliciting a comment on the recent discussions about the removal of her name from the Grand Hall at the Governor's Mansion.

She responded by asking what I was talking about. I explained briefly. Her response then:

"I served as First Lady for 10 1/2 years for Arkansas and her people. I am very proud of the things that I did as First Lady and the accomplishments that I have made to the state of Arkansas with only gratitude to the people and with no regrets."

Says here that Dan Coody will seek a third term as mayor of Fayetteville.

Iconoclast: How about a quick analysis?

On the jump, the Fayetteville Trucker has thoughts.