AAC
Family & Friends
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 Christy L. Smith or Scott Perkins at 501.372.7550. Executive Director / Publisher Chris Villines Communications Director/ Managing Editor Scott Perkins Communications coordinator/ Editor Christy L. Smith
AAC Executive Board: Mike Jacobs – President Roger Haney – Vice President Judy Beth Hutcherson – Secretary-Treasurer Sherry Bell Debra Buckner Sue Liles Bear Chaney Andrea Billingsley Jimmy Hart John Montgomery Patrick Moore Rhonda Cole Joe Gillenwater David Thompson Bill Hollenbeck 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.
COUNTY LINES, FALL 2014
» » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » »
Jail budget shortfall is tantamount to a crime
Director’s Desk
I
magine, if you will, a middle class family with a Chris Villines young son somewhere in suburban Arkansas. The AAC family chemistry is wonderful, they spend time Executive Director together recreating and enjoying life, attending church on Sundays and heading out for dinners and movies as time allows. One day the parents call the son into the kitchen and initiate the all too familiar family conference. “Son,” the father says “your mother and I have been doing some thinking. You are now 13, and all that you do is dependent on us. You are, for all intents, a subdivision of our family. We are tasked with the responsibility of caring for you and as such we believe we’ve done a pretty good job of clothing you, feeding you, providing a house for comfort and safety and generally giving all the sustenance that a young man could need, wouldn’t you agree?” “Sure,” replied the son. “You are the best parents a growing boy could have!” The mother engaged, “That’s great to hear, Junior, because we believe these things to be our responsibility, and we are happy to provide you with what you need.” She continued, “Junior, our budget has ups and downs, and we have to squeeze things around here from time to time to make ends meet … you know that, right?” “I do,” said Junior. The dad interjected, “Good, good ... so we are all on the same page. Junior, your mother and I need to do some financial juggling, so we have come up with a plan that will work well for all of us as we move forward. Right now we pay about $2,400 per year for your health insurance, and we have determined that the best way to handle this from this point forward is to let you pay this health insurance yourself.” Junior, not even knowing he had health insurance, was perplexed to say the least. Dad continued, “So, today, we called our insurance agent and asked that he start sending you the bill for this insurance — but don’t worry, we will give you a $200 allowance per month so you can pay the bill.” Junior replied, “Well, I guess that will be alright, but I don’t quite understand.” “Wait a minute,” mom interjected. “It’s all taken care of, we are here for you and we want to make this work.” Junior paused and reflected for a minute. He thought back to his 7th grade accounting class and the lessons Mr. E. Jones was teaching him, and he wisely asked, “Well, I have learned about inflation, and I know from watching all the political ads lately that my insurance is going to go up, so will you continue to increase the pay as my insurance gets more expensive?” Dad sat back, thought for a minute, and said, “Well, son, inflation does happen, but it might not. I think we’re pretty firm at the $200 per month because that’s all we can really afford … you know we haven’t had a raise in years and sometimes we >>> 7
