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LITTLE ROCK—Legislators on Thursday told the Martin Luther King Commission—which has been beset by public infighting over its appointments and finances—that they’ve grown tired of the controversy surrounding the panel.

Members of the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee’s subcommittee on state agencies reviewing the panel’s finances said that changes may be needed for the commission, which was formed to promote racial harmony, principles of nonviolence and awareness and appreciation of the civil rights movement.

“We hope you all can work out your own family fights and get it together, but, if it doesn’t happen soon, trust me that there will be some things developing down the road,” Sen. Jimmy Jeffress, D-Crossett, told the panel’s executive director and co-chairman. “You need to get your family quarrel ended and start being a functioning entity that works for the benefit of the community.”

A review of the panel’s finances presented to lawmakers Thursday didn’t reveal any major financial improprieties, but said the there was a lack of documentation for $485 in credit card purchases during a two-year period.

The audit was released shortly after members of the commission defended executive director DuShun Scarbrough, who has been linked to an insurance-fraud ring. State officials say the ring staged or caused car crashes to collect thousands of dollars in false insurance claims.

The 26-member panel scrapped a meeting planned for Thursday morning 45 minutes after it was scheduled, unable to muster the 14-member quorum necessary for its meeting.

The state’s insurance commissioner said last week that charges could be pursued against Scarbrough, who began working for the commission in March. Scarbrough has not been charged with a crime, but court papers filed by the state say he received $19,268 in false insurance claims for accidents tied to the ring.

“I had nothing to do with those matters and that’s all I have to say,” Scarbrough told The Associated Press.

After the commission meeting, he walked past several reporters and refused any further comment before walking into his office and closing the door.

Commission co-chairman Andy Montgomery defended Scarbrough and questioned the insurance commission’s accusations.

“To me, I don’t see any validity in that. If the insurance commission doesn’t see any charges, they didn’t seem to think it was valid so I don’t think it was valid,” Montgomery told reporters. “Until somebody shows me something different, I just don’t think it’s valid.”

The insurance-fraud case in Pulaski County Circuit Court accuses two Little Rock cousins of running a car-insurance fraud ring for almost 12 years. The case against Mark Anthony Watson and Fredrick Odell Rick Watson is to go to trial July 29. The state has accused the ring of staging more than 40 traffic crashes.

According to filings in the case, Scarbrough made misrepresentations to an insurance carrier in connection with accidents in 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2000.

Scarbrough was not asked about the case during Thursday’s hearing, and noted during the meeting that the audit covered the panel’s finances before he took over as executive director. The review by state auditors covered the two-year period ending June 30, 2007.