COUNTY JUDGES

The County Judges Association of Arkansas held its fall conference June Sept. 7-9 in Benton/Saline County.

Right: More than 30 county judges will not be returning to office in 2023. Pictured here are 1/3 of them — (from left to right) Independence County Judge Robert Griffin, White County Judge Michael Lincoln, Washington County Judge Joseph Wood, Crawford County Judge Dennis Gilstrap, Lawrence County Judge John Thomison, Little River County Judge Mike Cranford, Madison County Judge Frank Weaver, Baxter County Judge Mickey Pendergrass, Howard County Judge Kevin Smith, and Drew County Judge Robert Akin. Secretary of State John Thurston honored each judge with a Capitol Citation during a retirement dinner held Thursday night.

Right: AAC Executive Director Chris Villines presents a Diamond Award to retiring Sebastian County Judge David Hudson for his dedicated work on the APERS Board. Far right: Benton County Judge Barry Moehring asks a question during one of the break-out sessions.

When you participate in the AAC Workers’ Compensation Trust, you can relax in the hands of professional staff members who are going to take care of your needs. The AAC team has decades of experience in handling county government claims – they’re simply the best at what they do! Did we mention that participants in our plan are accustomed to getting money back? Since we started paying dividends in 1997, the AAC Workers’ Compensation Trust has declared almost $31.35 MILLION dollars in dividends, payable to members of the fund. In fact, we mailed $750,000 in savings back to member counties in July 2022. The service is available for any size county government and other county government-related entities. We’ve got you covered!

www.naco.org

About NACo – The Voice of America’s Counties National Association of Counties (NACo) is the only national organization that represents county governments in the U.S. NACo provides essential services to the nation’s 3,068 counties. NACo advances issues with a unified voice before the federal government, improves the public’s understanding of county government, assists counties in finding and sharing innovative solutions through education and research and provides value-added services to save counties and taxpayers money.

Counties directly eligible for $1.5 billion through U.S. Department of Transportation FY 2023 RAISE grants

By Jessica Jennings

$1.5 billion is available now through USDOT FY 2023 RAISE grants; January 30, 2023 deadline to apply Competitive RAISE grants help counties construct and improve critical transportation infrastructure.

On Nov. 30, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced the availability of $1.5 billion in competitive funding through the Office of the Secretary’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grants. Counties can apply directly to USDOT for RAISE grants, formerly known as BUILD and TIGER under previous administrations, to support surface transportation infrastructure projects with significant local or regional impacts.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL/P.L. 117-58) pro- vides up to $15 billion over five years for RAISE grants that allow counties and other eligible applicants to carry out a wide variety of activities, including highway, bridge, culvert, transit, port and airport surface transportation projects. The program’s flexibility has landed it amongst USDOT’s most oversubscribed grant programs since its creation in 2009. View more information and instructions for applying here.

As leaders in the nation’s transportation system, RAISE grants help counties construct and improve critical transportation infrastructure to foster safe and thriving communities. Owning and operating more roads and bridges than any other level of government and supporting over one-third of the nation’s airport and transit systems, counties are keeping Americans connected in every corner of the country and applaud opportunities like RAISE that help us meet our vast infrastructure responsibilities.

This publication was made possible with the support of these advertising partners who have helped to underwrite the cost of County Lines. They deserve your consideration and patronage when making your purchasing decisions. For more information on how to partner with County Lines, please call Christy L. Smith at (501) 372-7550.