Murfreesboro, Arkansas — Arkansas regulators have revoked the license of a small-town nursing home and stripped its administrator of her own credentials, after investigators said she was diverting resident funds into her personal bank account and ignoring abuse-reporting rules.
The Office of Long-Term Care, part of the state’s Division of Provider Services and Quality Assurance, pulled Sandra Barnett’s administrator license on May 20. Days later, the agency moved to shut down her facility, Murfreesboro Rehab and Nursing, citing what officials described as severe and repeated misconduct.
Residents had already been moved out by the time the formal closure notice landed. They were placed in long-term care facilities scattered across the region — Nashville, Dierks, Glenwood, Arkadelphia, and Texarkana — after the state determined the home could no longer keep them safe.
An "immediate jeopardy" finding triggered the shutdown
The closure followed a survey conducted the week of May 4, when inspectors handed the facility one of the most serious citations in long-term care oversight: immediate jeopardy. That label is reserved for situations where regulators believe a facility’s failures are putting residents at serious risk of harm or death.
An investigation that wrapped up three days later, on May 7, concluded that Barnett had committed both misappropriation and abuse. The state then took the unusual step of installing a Department of Human Services employee, David Miller, as temporary manager so residents could be safely transferred out.
In a hand-delivered letter dated May 20, the Office of Long-Term Care told Barnett the facility’s license was being yanked because of the "severity and number of violations," persistent non-compliance, and the home’s insolvency. The agency described the conduct as "detrimental to the health or safety of residents and employees."
Resident funds and opened mail
The financial allegations are blunt. State investigators said facility funds had been deposited into Barnett’s personal bank account. In four of the five resident cases reviewed, the home failed to safeguard money from misappropriation, the state wrote.
One resident’s mail was allegedly opened, and a check sent to that resident was deposited into a facility account without consent. Officials also said the home failed to report an alleged abuse incident within the 24-hour window required when no bodily injury occurs.
The Murfreesboro case lands as state attorneys general and oversight agencies tighten their grip on long-term care operators. Just days earlier, Iowa fined a facility a fraction of what advocates wanted after staff replaced 279 oxycodone pills with vitamins — a stark contrast in how seriously different states are treating misconduct inside nursing homes. Arkansas’s response, by comparison, leaves no operator standing.
Barnett, who lives in Murfreesboro, has not publicly responded to the allegations. The facility’s license officially expires May 31 — or sooner, the state said, once the last resident is out the door.
