BENTONVILLE -- Frustrated with what they see as a lack of progress and being left out in developing plans for a county courts building, some Benton County justices of the peace said they are ready to shut down the project.
Pat Adams said he thought when the Quorum Court approved spending $178,000 last week to continue with the second phase of a study, the justices of the peace would help set the parameters. County Judge Bob Clinard instead set up a working group with only one justice of the peace to work with consultants on the study.
Courts study
Plans for a courts building for Benton County have been discussed the past few years. A study in January 2014 identified three sites — two downtown and one on Southwest 14th Street near the county jail. The Quorum Court approved spending $178,000 last month to continue a study on those sites.
Source: Staff report
"That's my issue with the whole thing," Adams said. "We were supposed to have this planning meeting with the consultants through the Public Safety Committee to set the parameters and talk about what we wanted to include in the study. He [Clinard] just took it upon himself to do what he wanted to do."
Adams and several other justices of the peace suggested they might push to cancel money for the study. The issue was discussed at Thursday night's Finance Committee but no action was taken.
Clinard said Friday he was doing what the Quorum Court authorized. The makeup of the work group -- with representatives of the county's circuit judges, prosecutor, public defender, circuit clerk, county clerk and other offices involved -- was done to keep the project on track, he said. The group includes one justice of the peace to represent the Quorum Court.
Clinard plans to continue work on the study despite the complaints.
"They asked for a work group to work with the consultants, and we've got that," Clinard said. "If we have more than one JP on the committee, it's a Quorum Court meeting and we might as well have them all."
The work group will monitor the progress made by the consultants but not direct them to any result, Clinard said. The Quorum Court will be kept informed by its representative, Joel Jones, he said.
"We don't need the JPs' input to do a thorough report by the experts," Clinard said. "That's what we hired the experts for. I guess if they want to defund it and wait till Jan. 1, they can."
Clinard's term in office ends Dec. 31. He was defeated in his bid for re-election by Barry Moehring, a justice of the peace. Moehring faces Ronnie L. Smith, a Libertarian Party candidate, and Jeff Broadston, a write-in candidate, in the November general election.
Moehring prefers to have the study continue, but the justices of the peace have to be an active part of the process.
"My frustration is we passed the study under the belief the Quorum Court would have its input," Moehring said. "Those rules shouldn't change now, particularly this late in the process. It's a little bit of a bait-and-switch. I do have a problem with the idea that the Quorum Court members are going to be left out."
Moehring doesn't think any one justice of the peace can adequately represent the Quorum Court, with the divided opinions among the justices of the peace.
"I would not do that under the notion that I was representing the Quorum Court," he said. "There's a lot of good opinions and a lot of good input that's ready to be aired."
Jones, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, intends to hold a meeting to discuss the project with the consultants in August. A meeting set for Aug. 15 will be canceled because of scheduling conflicts. Jones is uncertain how the project will proceed.
"We've appropriated the money for the study, and I guess the only way we have any control is to amend the budget and take it back," Jones said. "That's not my first choice, but we approved this with the idea of the JPs having significant input and a public discussion with the architects before we get into these workshops.
"I don't want to stop it. We need to keep moving forward, even if slowly. But that's our only course of action if we're not satisfied with the level of cooperation."
State Desk on 08/06/2016