BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's justices of the peace see a busy 2015 for the Quorum Court because of new projects and some old issues as well.
The chairmen of the Quorum Court's five committees all agree a new courts building will be a major part of their work. Joel Jones of District 8 and chairman of the Public Safety/Justice Facility Committee, said he plans to have the panel meet regularly on the project.
At A Glance
County Committees
The Benton County Quorum Court is organized into five committees, each responsible for different areas of county government, and the county’s Grievance Council that hears employees’ job-related complaints. The five committees are: Finance; Personnel; Public Safety/Justice Facility; Transportation and Legislative. The 15 justices of the peace also meet as a group in the Committee of the Whole and the Quorum Court to discuss and accept or reject recommendations from the five committees.
Source: Staff Report
"I hope to, in this year, try to get us to make the main decisions on the courts facility," Jones said. "That would be where to build it? How big does it need to be? Do we do it in phases? Then, possibly, we might move on to the funding options or that might go to Finance."
Jones said his committee will be engaged with other issues as well.
"We've got to do something about the part of the unincorporated areas of the county served by Springdale for ambulance," Jones said. "Since Springdale has said this is the last year they're going to provide the service it's going to be something we need to deal with this year."
Jones wants to keep the committee up to date on the more routine operations of the county as well. The committee's first meeting is Jan. 27.
"We have committees for a reason," Jones said. "I want the members of the committee to be more familiar with the emergency management, the 911 operation and CenCom and the Sheriff's Office. So I do plan for us to be meeting fairly regularly even without the courthouse discussions."
The Finance Committee is the only panel among the five committees with a regular monthly meeting, set for the first Thursday of each month. Tom Allen of District 4 is the chairman and said the group will continue its work of monitoring revenue and expenses and developing the 2016 budget in the fall.
"Beyond that, it will depend on whether the Public Safety Committee and what, if anything, is referred out of that committee," Allen said. "If they come to some of the other decisions then Finance will have to look at the funding options for the courts building."
The Finance Committee typically deals with issues only when they affect the county's budget, Allen said. Personnel Committee decisions may need to be reviewed by the panel if they impact the budget, Allen said. The situation with the War Eagle Bridge, which County Judge Bob Clinard has said he'll look at replacing because of structural problems and the expected cost to repair and renovate the 108-year-old structure, is another concern.
"We'll deal with the needs of the county as they arise," Allen said.
Steve Curry of District 11 is chairman of the Transportation Committee, and Shirley Sandlin of District 9 is chairwoman of the Personnel Committee. Both said they expect their committees to have normal operations to deal with. The new courts building will cast its shadow over other concerns, they said.
"I see a lot of business with the new courthouse," Curry said. "I have a lot of concerns about where we're going to put it. I think, just speaking for myself as one JP, it should be out by the Sheriff's Office because of safety and security issues. That's also going to be a big expense coming up and we've got to figure out a way to pay for it."
Sandlin said her committee will review the county's job descriptions and pay system, but that's something that's done every few years. Sandlin also said outside issues will influence personnel decisions.
"It looks as though we are going to review things pretty much from the ground up," she said. "It's nothing new and, in the long run, there's probably not going to be a lot of changes, but we haven't had our first meeting yet. Obviously, the courts building is our elephant in the room, and reading in the paper I see the War Eagle Bridge is coming back up. Outside of those two issues there's always going to be some tweaking of something."
Kevin Harrison of District 5 is chairman of the Legislative Committee. He said he wants county government to work more closely with the area's state legislators and take a more active approach in lobbying for or against measures affecting the county. With the Legislature meeting in regular session this year, Harrison said he wants to see action to increase the money the state pays for holding prisoners in county jails. He's also concerned about how the road tax is divided among the county and city governments.
"One of the big things, of course, is the jail fees," he said. "We're not going to let that go. They've promised to take that up, but if they do nothing the Quorum Court will need to do something."
Harrison has called a committee meeting for Feb. 2 to look at legislative issues. He said he hopes to have improved communication between the justices of the peace and the county's senators and representatives.
"In the past it's been pretty much call somebody up when things occur," he said. "We need to develop a better relationship. I plan to do a better job of that and work to keep in touch with the governor's office as well. We're a very important county in this state, one of the largest counties, and I don't think it hurts to reach out to our legislators and to others."
Tom Sissom can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWATom.
NW News on 01/19/2015