From the Director’s Desk

County Lines

Magazine

County Lines is the official publication of the Association of Arkansas Counties. It is published quarterly. For advertising inquiries, subscriptions or other information relating to the magazine, please contact Scott Perkins at 501.372.7550.

Executive Director / Executive Editor Chris Villines Managing Editor Scott Perkins

AAC Executive Board:

Mike Jacobs – President Roger Haney – Vice President Danny Hickman – Secretary-Treasurer Sherry Bell Debra Buckner Rita Chandler Jim Crawford Rhonda Wharton Jimmy Hart Judy Beth Hutcherson Leonard Krout Faron Ledbetter Bill Gipson Gene Raible Marty Moss Will Jones Debbie Wise

National Association of Counties (NACo) Board Affiliations

Alvin Black: Public Lands Steering Committee. He is the Montgomery County Judge.

Roger Haney: Board of Directors. He is the Washington County Treasurer and is also on the Telecommunications & Technology Steering Committee.

Ted Harden: Finance & Intergovernmental Affairs

Steering Committee. He serves on the Jefferson

County Quorum Court.

Haze Hudson: Transportation Steering Committee. He serves on the Miller County Quorum Court.

David Hudson: Vice Chair of NACo’s Justice and

Public Safety Steering Committee. He is the

Sebastian County Judge and member of the Rural

Action Caucus Steering Committee.

Mike Jacobs: NACo Board of Directors, the Membership Committee and the Agricultural & Rural

Affairs Steering Committee. He is the Johnson

County Judge.

The ‘shalls,’ ‘mays’ of county government

Director’s Desk

Perspective is an invaluable thing. In government, it can be argued that we have lost a great deal of this in the current election cycle, one where issues largely inconsequential to county government have taken center stage – relegating the dayto-day management of government to the shelf. But hope remains that in the wake of Nov. 6 we will find ourselves returning to some sense of normalcy; one where county government can re-train its collective eyes to the provision Chris Villines AAC Executive Director of essential service to our constituents in an efficient and competent manner.

American Author John Irving once penned, “We often need to lose sight of our priorities in order to see them.”

The priorities of law enforcement, court systems, recordation of marriage licenses and deeds, building county roads and an effective property tax system have been scantly discussed on a national or state legislative stage. The administration of government is lost in a sea of hot button topics rarely, if ever, dealt with in the offices of our courthouses.

Here at the Association of Arkansas Counties we like to step back from time to time to look, again, at what counties in Arkansas are tasked with. And any such evaluation has to be put into perspective by asking ourselves “What do the counties have to do?” and alternatively, “what are counties empowered for and want to do?” It is only through this lens that we as counties can accurately determine what are the needs versus the desires of our structure? This is an essential question that should be asked across all levels of society, and one that has undoubtedly been discussed during these hard times in every household in America. Our families are having to make these tough calls, mandated to provide food, clothing and shelter above all else. So what is the “food, clothing and shelter” of county government? And what are the accouterments that we all like when times are good?

The answer to this question lies in Arkansas Code Annotated §14-14-802. This code simply breaks down the “shall” and “may” of county government as below:

§14-14-802 – Providing of services generally. (a)A county government, acting through the county quorum court, shall provide (emphasis mine), through ordinance, for the following necessary services for its citizens: (1) The administration of justice through the several courts of record of the county; (2) Law enforcement protection services and the custody of persons accused or convicted of crimes; (3) Real and personal property tax administration, including assessments, collection, and custody of tax proceeds; (4) Court and public records management, as provided by law, including registration, recording and custody of public records; and (5) All other services prescribed by state law for performance by each of the elected county officers or departments of county government.

The balance of this section pertains to the “may” provisions of county government, and is in my opinion more descriptively helpful regarding the boundary between the two than the requirements that precede it. It reads as follows:

(b) (1) A county government, acting through the quorum court, may provide (emphasis mine), through ordinance for the establishment of any service or performance of any function not expressly prohibited by the Arkansas Constitution or by law. (2) These legislative services and functions include, but are not limited to, the following services and facilities: (A) Agricultural services, including: (i) Extension services, including agricultural, home economic, and community development; (ii) Fairs and livestock shows and sales services; (iii) Livestock inspection and protection services; (iv) Market and marketing services; (v) Rodent, predator, and vertebrate control services; and (vi) Weed and insect control services; (B) Community and rural development services, including: (i) Economic development services; (ii) Housing services; (iii) Open spaces; (iv) Planning, zoning, and subdivision control services; (v) Urban and rural development, rehabilitation, and redevelopment services; and (vi) Watercourse, drainage, irrigation, and flood control services; (C) Community services, including: (i) Animal control services; (ii) Cemetery, burial, and memorial services; (iii) Consumer education and protection services; (iv) Exhibition and show services; (v) Libraries, museums, civic center auditoriums, and historical, cultural, or natural site services; (vi) Park and recreation services; and (vii) Public camping services; (D) Emergency services, including: (i) Ambulance services; (ii) Civil defense services; (iii) Fire prevention and protection services; and (iv) Juvenile attention services; (E) Human services, including: (i) Air and water pollution control services; (ii) Child care, youth, and senior citizen services; (iii) Public health and hospital services; (iv) Public nursing and extended care services; and (v) Social and rehabilitative services; (F) Solid waste services, including: (i) Recycling services; and (ii) Solid waste collection and disposal services; (G) Transportation services, including: (i) Roads, bridges, airports, and aviation services; (ii) Ferries, wharves, docks, and other marine services; (iii) Parking services; and (iv) Public transportation services; (H) Water, sewer, and other utility services, including: (i) Sanitary and storm sewers and sewage treatment services; and (ii) Water supply and distribution services; (I) Other services related to county affairs.

Though this particular law is relatively clear, over the years statutory requirements have added some items as mandates to county government. For instance, solid waste laws, which include recycling grants have come with strings of governance attached. However, this list remains largely accurate – and is a good blueprint you can use to discern allocations of resources in your county through a mandatory lens.

The delineation between “shalls” and “mays” in county government is important. So often we are inaccurately presumed to be required to provide certain things, and occasionally we sacrifice that which we must do at the foot of that which we would like to do. As we move forward with a new class of elected officials, both locally and at a state legislative level, it is critical to understand our mandate – those services that without county government would simply not be provided.

Furthermore, it is compelling to see just how many of the optional services we now provide through the counties of Arkansas. Compare the second list of non-compulsory items against your county to see just how many things you have taken on through the years that you didn’t have to. I, like many of you, was raised to go beyond the level of “just getting by.” It is admirable that our counties have injected help in the form of money and governance to improve the society around them when the times were good. Likewise, it is very understandable and prudent that we must shrink back from the same in bad times.

In this era of budget cuts from Washington, D.C. that trickle down to you on a local level, it is vitally important that we keep focused on our mission – to provide our mandated services … for we are legally bound to such. And if your county is unfortunate enough to have to make cuts, it is important to know where you can.

Next spring will bring us the 89th General Assembly. This is a time when many tough decisions will be made on a state level, some of which could have a profound effect on you and your county. It is fundamentally important that you build relationships with your incoming state legislators. It is crucial they know the mission of county government and incumbent on you and us to help educate those around you of our general mandates.

In county government we will all go through highs and lows, times of expansion and growth … or of contraction and layoffs. But in all cases the most important thing we can have is a healthy understanding of our mission, and a perspective of the basic necessities we are required to provide.

Chris Villines

Chris Villines