State Rep. Bryan King, RGreen Forest, will host a public meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday in Eureka Springs to discuss the 128-year-old law that has been causing a variety of problems for officials in Carroll County.
The meeting will be held at the Best Western Inn of the Ozarks Convention Center, 207 W. Van Buren St.
King said he will give a legislative update and answer questions. He has invited public officials to attend, including members of the Carroll County Quorum Court.
On Oct. 7, a ruling by the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld Act 74 of 1883, which established two judicial districts in Carroll County with courthouses in Berryville and Eureka Springs.
After that ruling, county officials noticed that Act 74 also contains provisions that have never been followed. One of those provisions states that county revenue collected in one judicial district must beused by that district, but revenue has traditionally been commingled and distributed throughout the entire county.
That prompted the board of the Eureka Springs Carnegie Library to file a lawsuit over the issue in January, saying the library had been shorted tax revenue. The suit was filed in Carroll County Circuit Court.
The county has three public libraries - two in the eastern district and one in the western district. Tax revenue traditionally hasbeen divided equally among the three libraries. Because the Eureka Springs library is the only one in the western district, and about half of the tax revenue is collected in that district, its board of directors want half of the tax revenue instead of onethird. Carroll County’s property tax for libraries brought in $606,106 in 2010.
The Carroll County prosecutor’s office filed a motion Feb. 15 saying, among other things, Act 74 was referringonly to revenue from the judicial system, not all county revenue. But Tim Parker of Eureka Springs, attorney for the Carnegie library, disagreed and filed a response saying the motion should be denied.
Act 74 also contained revelations about the boundary line between the judicial districts. For more than a century, county residents thought Kings River divided the two judicial districts. But according to Act 74, the boundary line is actually a north-south range line west of the river. That means the Western District is about 45 square miles smaller than county residents thought.
That could have ramifications for everything from fire protection to criminal trials. Based on Act 74, the Berryville Fire Department is responsible for some areas west of Kings River. Also, based on the range line, trials may have been held in the wrong courthouse, and jury pools may have been drawn from the wrong judicial district.
King has filed House Bill 1545, which would change the part of Act 74 of 1883 regarding revenue.
But Ron Flake, a Quorum Court member, said the entire act should be repealed.
Flake said he has drafted a resolution he will present at the Quorum Court’s meeting on March 18. If passed, the resolution would ask King and state Sen. Randy Laverty, D-Jasper, to file a bill to repeal Act 74 in its entirety.
Flake said that doesn’t mean closing the Eureka Springs courthouse, but it would no longer serve as a county courthouse. The county still could maintain a marriage license bureau in the building, and real estate records could be dropped off there for delivery to the Berryville courthouse, he said.
City offices are on the first floor of the three-story courthouse. County offices are on the second floor, and a courtroom is on the third floor.
King said he may have a second public meeting on Act 74 in Holiday Island but that it hasn’t been scheduled.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 03/04/2011