Sheffield Nelson, a former commissioner for the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission (GFC), has sued the commission, claiming that three of its seven members illegally control the group.

Commissioners Craig Campbell, Emon Mahoney, and Rick Watkins currently sit on all of the GFC's major committees, the result of a committee restructuring in June. The practical result is that if the three of them are allied, as Nelson alleges, they do have the ability to control the commission's policy.

Nelson charges that this new committee structure violates Amendment 35 of the state constitution. That amendment states that the GFC must be jointly led by commissioners from each of the state's four congressional districts, but currently Campbell, Mahoney, and Watkins hold all the power, according to Nelson.

The case was filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court and will be heard by Judge Jay Moody.

Nelson was appointed to the commission by then-Governor Mike Huckabee in 2000, and served on it until 2007. Prior to that time, he was twice the Republican nominee for governor. He has previously voiced his displeasure with the current structure of the GFC, most recently in an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in August.

For more info, read this article from the Democrat-Gazette (subscription required) or this article from the Arkansas News Bureau. You can also view the full text of Nelson's lawsuit.