Justices Of The Peace Defend Oversight Role

At A Glance

The Ordinance

Sarah Daniels, Benton County comptroller, said the budget ordinance, which is incorporated into the budget every year, restricts the transfer or spending of money designated for personal services and capital purchases. The ordinance says: “Any transfers of monies between the various funds of the County and the expenditure categories of Personal Services and Capital Outlay will be made only with prior approval of the Benton County Quorum Court.”

Source: Staff Report

— Benton County justices of the peace say they question the purchase of a pickup by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office as a matter of budget policy and practice, not on the merits of buying the pickup.

The justices of the peace have asked Sheriff Keith Ferguson or a representative of the Sheriff’s Office to attend Thursday night’s Quorum Court meeting to answer questions about the pickup.

Sarah Daniels, county comptroller, brought the purchase to the attention of justices of the peace in keeping with the guidelines of the county’s budget ordinance. Daniels said the purchase of an item exceeding $5,000 is considered a capital item and requires prior approval from the Quorum Court.

The Sheriff’s Office brought the purchase to Daniels with a purchase order request and an invoice for a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado for $19,871. Daniels said the Sheriff’s Office was asking to transfer $5,850 from a County Jail budget line item for machinery and equipment to the sheriff’s budget to buy the pickkup.

Sheriff Keith Ferguson said he approved purchasing the pickup for Sheriff-elect Kelley Cradduck to use as he makes the transition to his new administration. Chief Deputy Don Townsend said he bought the pickup and followed the same procedures he has on other purchases in the past.

Although he didn’t have the specific details of other purchases, Townsend said the Sheriff’s Office bought equipment for the county jail in similar fashion in the past and he thought the pickup would be handled in the same way — through a “cleanup ordinance” presented to the Quorum Court to finalize the 2012 budget.

“There’s been a number of them over the years,” Townsend said. “That kind of evolved over the years with (former comptroller) Richard McComas. He said it cost the county $200 to do an individual ordinance, so toward the end of the year if we were low in one line item we’d transfer money from another line item. The money was in the budget. It all evened out. You weren’t going out and spending money you didn’t have.”

Daniels said she hasn’t paid for the pickup since it hasn’t been approved by the Quorum Court as required by ordinance. Justice of the Peace Kurt Moore said he wants to hear from the Sheriff’s Office before he considers whether to approve the expenditure. Moore said he didn’t remember similar purchases being made in his time on the court.

“The only thing I remember that was remotely similar to this was when Andy Lee was sheriff,” Moore said. “They had a line item in the budget that was just labeled ‘cars’ and they ended up buying a mobile home, mobile command post from that. It was still in the line item for cars, but it wasn’t a car.”

Moore said the pickup purchase is different in that the money for it wasn’t taken from a line item for vehicles and the change in use of the money wasn’t approved by the Quorum Court. While he was glad to see the outgoing sheriff working with the sheriff-elect, Moore said he still wants the proper procedures to be followed.

“All vehicle purchases are supposed to go through the Transportation Committee and then the Committee of 13.” Moore said. “I think the sentiment was good, but the way they got there was not done in accordance with the guidelines. We never got a chance to discuss the need for the truck with Sheriff Ferguson or Kelley Cradduck. That’s part of our oversight.”

County Assessor Bear Chaney said he’s always understood county policy to require prior approval of major purchases.

“It is my understanding that if we need to purchase something we call upstairs and we get a P.O. (purchase order),” Chaney said. “If we need to move money from one line item or department we go back to the Quorum Court and say ‘I need to move money from here to there.’”

Justice of the Peace Dan Douglas said he wants to be sure elected officials and department heads understand and follow the same procedures.

“We don’t want to set a precedent that you can buy anything you want,” Douglas said. “They need to come to the Quorum Court.”

Douglas said the justices of the peace were following a similar line of reasoning when they discussed removing a building inspector position from the county’s 2013 budget. The position was initially approved as part of arrangement with Centerton, and the person hired for the job would have done some work for the city and some for the county.

Centerton has since decided to keep its building inspector and do the work in-house, Douglas said.

“It’s the same principle that applies here,” Douglas said. “We don’t want them to be able to just hire someone into that position without it being approved first.”

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