Spring 2014 County Lines Magazine by associationofarkansascounties

County Lines SPRING 2014

Counties unveil

e-billing

Veterans museum

AAC staffer

plans for expansion

headed for retirement

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Time to see what AAC Risk Management Fund offers you options that other plans may not, and participation in all lines is not required. Some of our members receive a 10% discount to their annual auto contribution. If your county was not one of them, call our team of professionals to find out how we can get you there!

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Debbie Norman Risk Management & Insurance Director

501.375.8247 4

Cathy Perry Claims Analyst 501.375.8805

Barry Burkett Loss Control 501.375.8805

Amber Krum Admin. Assist. 501.375.8805

Brandy McAllister RMS Counsel 501.375.8805

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COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

AAC

Family

end  Fri

In This Issue

SPRING 2014

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er, AAC rs Wes Folw ntal affai e governme to retir director . in June

Long-time advocate for county government to retire from AAC.

e turn es th mak ernment

. He contractorse. ential golf cour t nt gov and licensed aresid nine-hole . It migh e in efficie ly owns nt in 1987 been activ ebuilder has more m hom and his fami governme family the onger, becoming a custo houses, to county ng that his since poultry transition ideri es str thouse est n cons es. the also had the cour includ ler’s inter served He made ral progressiosix decad a Fowler in cousins ng for Legacy that Wes Fowsparked byBut a natu of his clerk. Duri seem governmentthere had been two t seem d have been County.years ty t, and coun in the county until I left, it migh coul 27 Madison um cour years as positions dent ent said. glance, “Up ce to during the lays the s,” he d on the quorer served 10 in officer presi t first ty governm . ler disp y of servi him early 1950 r serve sor. Fowl chair and for association in coun ly’s legac alongside say Fow r possesses ty Fowler ed ties line His fathe and asses legislative his famiwho work nsas coun natural leadehe is a countor of was in urer Arkansas, dent. . d as a as treas , he serve ciation. He in 1998 ciation of , then presi those for Arka rnment; tive direc only cate ledge that county gove er execu that timeClerks Asso county judgeJudges Asso president legislative advo form ty , ed ty an ison d viceas AAC ler in know AAC Coun was elect the Coun he was n and not a dabb Eddie Jones the Mad the he and secon ctors andhe joined the in when ise active chair, first d of Dire , e dedicatioFowler is oisseur,” said ties. computerizing through Coun from ation Likew legislative AAC Boar ction in 2010 very astut y “Wes nt conn a nsas legisl g r him as man the Arka s range votin in bette makes ng served served served on not seek re-ele governmeciation of left it plishment ring early nd that Havi practical nt, he He also n he did the Assoer’s accom relato ushe backgrou d’ training. has great Whe es. governme Fowl ’s office rnment chair. kind of , he e-fiel s the law s Villin ’s gove he says, county ty Clerk . has the he has ‘in-th ty judgeand he knowber of the Coun staff. ature touched inDirector Chri ion as AAC . Still, , Fowler a coun “Wes member — clerk and operations ming a mem legislative ary 2011 ng he state legisl utive his posit he AAC ty nt staff “Everythi AAC Exec June fromheld since Janu counties.officials,” AAC both a county governme before becong guide the Assembly,” in said ty of the ral as shape,” er will retire ion he has the pulse elected coun years of coun tions. Even tal in helpi nsas Gene ledge Fowl tor, a posit finger on opera know the Arka his some calls from those very instrumen direc d back he ns of 4 rning tions cts to keep ve was move sessio gove 201 ol, ts he us recei staff ING he expe to still His paren high scho on AAC through vario SPR “I hope Idaho. was 4. After hters, a stepsy this ES, Falls, package he ersar TY LIN said. said. in Twin ty when has three daug anniv Jones h CO UN wedding was born Coun e owler to Madison couple, whic er befor their 36th e Cent home Qualls. The celebrate nal Hom Rose ren, will Natio married grandchild s and n Food and six er. at Tyso summ er worked Fowl

an ty m coun time Long

Features Three counties issue electronic bills to taxpayers..................................................28 Museum honors veterans from Bradley County......................................................36

Inside Look

AAC board profiles........................................................................................................27 Lafayette County chief deputy killed.........................................................................35 AAC expands its headquarters, welcomes state sheriff’s association.

Collectors gather in Mountain View...........................................................................41 Circuit Clerks and Assessors meet............................................................................42 County Clerks hold continuing education session..................................................43 AAC

Family

Coroners plan game-changing program...................................................................43 & Frie nd

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Left: An dering architectu project. depicts the ral rencomplete the new Middle: Fram d ing Bottom addition goes up. for the footi left: Work Scaffoldinng. Bottomers lay g surro righ nearly complete unds thet: d wing .

AAC expa we

lcome nds he The ad s sh to expa Association eriff’s quarters and servind AAC faciliof Arkansas , assoc two-story ces for Arka ties so the Counties Board iation ing AAC , $1.75 milli nsas coun organizatio of ties. The n could Directors on, build allow for mino ing. It will 5,000-square-f expansion continue decided last to those spaces r-redesign house 16 officeoot addit will soon grow its progspring to be The rams s and ion on the take the utiliz of the form two confe east iff’s Assoboard of direc ed more east wing side of of into its ciation for tors also apprefficiently. the existing rence room of the exist-a s. new head a porti AAC oved on of buildingIt also will The quar the expaa lease agree enabling focus board of direc ters. ment nsion on with . The ship and providing tors has ASA will the Arka made more comm move nsas Sheritment to the coun the AAC this summ a very to the strong future. ties of Arka er enter nsas is evidenced prise, and in their their leader-

Treasurers topics include trends in public service..................................................44 Legislative session on agenda for judges................................................................45 AAC staff profile............................................................................................................48

Departments From the Director’s Desk............................................................................................... 7

CO UN

TY LIN ES,

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ING

201 4

President’s Perspective................................................................................................. 9 Attorney General Opinions..........................................................................................11 FAQs: Governmental Affairs........................................................................................12

From the Governor........................................................................................................13

Boon

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cn ele has bee . I want gy ssion “My paI like technolo e accesmor tions.them easier and te.” e vo dy, to mak ple to tal Grad for peo — Crys ty Clerk e Coun sible

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ra County ID came Boone a photo es in the dy with ssa Bridg al Grad with Merri Top: Cryst works Graddy Crystal Right: office. Clerk’s

gy nolo tech clerk ter e g vo r Boon in v fo ro Imp riority ap

rt rum Cou of nty Quo at any vote e Cou could the Boon asked so residents and after later she ion law before l to their . Six years ty’s elect her both to trave ed to in 2006 ge the coun . plain they had incts away to chan ty’s prec rs had com distance miles s the 5 mile vote 15 the coundy said voteing about had to place just hter to trict Grad ritz resident a polling her daug after ces the 2010 rediss. b MO s on was ing one that servi d d By Ro trict place ty Line ove there relie foun daughter. tal polling before redis though to impr k Crys For Coun an who voted — her Even home, even — a wom both place with nologies County Cler r e they e t tech in the from his ther vote inct wher d a polling s away. dy said. the lateswell be Boon Ano served ronic prec share several mile y?” Grad s, Graddy ging away. to the no longer elect evera ents may she has was body happ c book that g from an s Boone drive her place she roni to?” to resid specialty. 17 years thin that allow tricting new polling I make every had elect want more condy’s the every redis they ty Grad ed, in do her a ever cast ative wish. coun ld be ting embraced initi In fact, ght, ‘How in the vote wher Inde g shou voters to dy has ram to an inct they ative, adop “I thou precincts can’t they d that votin allowing prec Grad on. initi prog all y law sored office, pilot ballot at anythe latter lative sessi to use it Since g, “Wh bers agreepassed a clerk’s machine who spon hand askin mem sly s legis y. I want dy said. e of cast a g began rum court unanimou county. Widner,he saw first easier votin voters to took notic ng last year’ olog techn vote,” Grad has a s the James g Quo duri to I like County legislator and they inct in nsas, Peace court, said e votin measureelections. for people h Arka Census. venient, any prec ce of the um State had mad at in nort U.S. sible statewide been years a ballot County Justi re the quor initiative similar passion has more accesers Missourito the 2010she was 7 4 e befo that the t of 201 Boon proposal g r and bord “My ING southeas election accordin homa when dy’s which e it easie SPR to mak e County, ly 37,000, from Okla School, justin 1997, when Gradng the 2012 ES, e duri Boon n of near ed there TY LIN le. ’s offic gs High latio CO UN ly mov for peop y Sprin in the clerk popu fami Valle of dy’s dy said. county clerk Grad graduate went to work Grad ed dy old. A office,” was elect Grad clerk. in the She was Harrison, position probate. Witty David held every working “I’ve job was Her first

Boone County Clerk makes voter technology a priority.

County Law Update.......................................................................................................14 Savings Times 2............................................................................................................15 Research Corner...........................................................................................................16 Seems to Me..................................................................................................................20

Cover Notes: The Vietnam Veterans M emorial

very year in May, we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. Monuments to these heroes dot the Arkansas State Capitol grounds. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, pictured on the cover, is in the southeast corner. Proposed by the General Assembly in 1983 and dedicated in 1987, artist John Deering sculpted the central figure of a soldier. Behind him, granite slabs bear the names of Arkansans killed or mortally wounded during the conflict in Vietnam. The U.S. and POW/MIA flags fly overhead. Memorial Day, however, honors the service of all men and women who died defending our country. Originally called Decoration Day, it was established in 1868 to honor the Civil War dead. Following World War I, Memorial Day was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars. The U.S. Congress in 1971 declared it a national holiday, to be observed on the last Monday of May. COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

(AAC Photos / Scott Perkins)

“

It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle. — Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf

” 5

Calendar

o f E v e n t s

June 11-13 County Circuit Clerks Hilton Garden Inn Conway

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2014

June 18-20 County Judges Embassy Suites Hot Springs June 19-20 County Treasurers Wyndham North Little Rock June 25-27 County Clerks Marriott Courtyard Fort Smith

CONTACT AAC

July 10-11 County Collectors Eureka Springs July 11-14 NACo Annual Conference New Orleans, LA July 20-23 County Sheriffs Eureka Springs August 20-22 AAC Conference Little Rock Marriott Calendar activities also are posted on our Web site:

www.arcounties.org

Brenda Emerson, ACE Program Coordinator bemerson@arcounties.org

Mark Whitmore, Chief Legal Counsel mwhitmore@arcounties.org

Association of Arkansas Counties 1415 West Third Street Little Rock, AR 72201 (501) 372-7550 phone (501) 372-0611 fax www.arcounties.org

Lindsey Bailey, Legal Counsel lawclerk1@arcounties.org

Jeff Sikes, Legislative Director jsikes@arcounties.org

Wes Fowler, Government Relations Director wfowler@arcounties.org

Scott Perkins, Communications Director Chris Villines, Executive Director cvillines@arcounties.org

Jeanne Hunt, Executive Assistant

jhunt@arcounties.org

sperkins@arcounties.org

Cindy Posey, Accountant Christy L. Smith, Communications Coordinator csmith@arcounties.org

Whitney Barket Secretary / Receptionist wbarket@arcounties.org

Mission Statement: The Association of Arkansas Counties

he Association of Arkansas Counties supports and promotes the idea that all elected officials must have the opportunity to act together in order to solve mutual problems as a unified group. To further this goal, the Association of Arkansas Counties is committed to providing a single source of cooperative support and information for all counties and county and district officials. The overall purpose of the Association of Arkansas Counties is to work for the improvement of county government in the state of Arkansas. The Association accomplishes this purpose by providing legislative representation, on-site assistance, general research, training, various publications and conferences to assist county officials in carrying out the duties and responsibilities of their office.

Risk Management / Workers’ Compensation Debbie Norman, Risk Management & Insurance

Director, Risk Mgmt Services dnorman@aacrms.com

Debbie Lakey,Workers’ Comp Claims Manager

dlakey@aacrms.com

Cathy Perry, Administrative Assist./Claims Analyst

cperry@aacrms.com

Kim Nash,Workers Comp Claims Adjuster

knash@aacrms.com

Kim Mitchell, Administrative Assistant

kmitchell@aacrms.com

Brandy McAllister, RMS Counsel

bmcallister@arcounties.org

Becky Comet, Member Benefits Manager

bcomet@arcounties.org

Barry Burkett, Loss Control Specialist cposey@arcounties.org

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bburkett@aacrms.com

Tammie Scarborough, Claims Adjuster

tscarborough@aacrms.com

Amber Krum, Administrative Assistant

akrum@aacrms.com

Elizabeth Sullivan, Admin. Assistant/Receptionist

esullivan@arcounties.org

COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

AAC

F a m i l y  F r i e n d s

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 Rhonda Wharton Jimmy Hart John Montgomery Patrick Moore Faron Ledbetter 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, spring 2014

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AAC remains strong amid much change

Director’s Desk

s we move toward the summer of 2014, it Chris Villines dawns on me this is an opportune time for AAC our organization to reflect on all that has Executive Director transpired since our beginning. The Association of Arkansas Counties has undergone tremendous change in facilities, personnel and leadership through the last 46 years, and as we move into our new wing, this is a season to put markers down in remembrance of where we have been. These markers also serve as a compass for where we are going. We are far from alone in our rapid growth. I was recently reminded of this when we hosted a group of 15 southern states’ county associations at a three-day conference in Little Rock. All county associations have seen tremendous change as they respond to the needs of their county constituents. The increasing pressure on a policy front, the stagnant or declining revenue for member counties and the explosive growth in increasingly litigious sectors like risk management and workers’ compensation programs have demanded that each of these associations add staff, buildings and personnel to meet demands. You will read an excellent synopsis of the AAC history in this issue beginning on page 20 and authored under the pen of Eddie Jones. The discussion of our own growth since 1968 is a testament to leaders during those years who have built a strong, yet flexible organization willing to adapt to changing times. I am reminded of a Japanese proverb that says, “The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.” This is very descriptive of the DNA through the years at the AAC, and in Arkansas county government in general. The AAC is strong because we react well to the changes around us. Moving pieces are a constant, not unique, aspect of our environment — and the legislative session evidences this more than anything. Most of the time these changes come from the outside, but sometimes the changes come from within, and I’d like to take some space here to visit about a couple of changes we are dealing with in the present, and the evolution of our organization to deal with these transitions. As many of you are already aware, we will be losing two valuable team members in the next two months. Jeff Sikes, our legislative director, joined the AAC for two different stints through the years and has decided to pursue other opportunities. He has been instrumental in our federal legislative work and the development of our legislative packages and agendas. Jeff will leave us at the end of July. The other is Wes Fowler, our government relations director, who had agreed to come on board for a few years when David Morris left to become mayor of Searcy. Wes has been a valuable lobbyist and one of our key liaisons with member associations. A former judge and county clerk, Wes will be leaving us for retirement at the end of June. Both of these losses will leave a void at the association, and with me personally. Many of you have built up long-term friendships with them as well, and I encourage all of you to stay in touch with Jeff and Wes. Both are active on social media and I’m sure they don’t plan on throwing away their cell phones! With the leadership of our strong board of directors, we will be shuffling and re-hiring

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Director’s

Desk

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staff as a result of these changes. First, I am proud to say that Jonathan Greer, onetime AAC Staff Counsel, will be rejoining our group after seven years working as Saline County’s Attorney. Jonathan is capable and looking forward to being back in the AAC fold, and he will work with several of our groups upon rejoining us in June. In addition, Scott Perkins as our communications director has proven that he has a can-do attitude and is willing to do whatever it takes to make the association successful. He will be moving into more of a legislative role, helping to assimilate our legislative package and working directly with the county clerks. It is expected that the majority of bills which affect our counties in the upcoming session will fall in the realm of elections or marriage so we expect this to be a busy role. With Scott moving more into a legislative role, we have hired Christy L. Smith as our communications coordinator, and she will work with Scott to produce County Lines – along with promoting the message of Arkansas counties in the area of social media. Christy will also focus on additional communications projects as we move forward. Christy is an award-winning journalist, and you will see that talent put to work in this magazine. Finally, we continue to increase our legislative and risk management resources and have hired both Brandy McAllister and Lindsey Bailey

as attorneys for our team. Brandy joined the association full time as a newly licensed attorney this year and Lindsey will do the same in August. Both will have several duties which involve workers compensation, risk management and policy development and we expect to see great things from them in the coming years. These hires are a testament to the law-clerk program we began four years ago, and both of these ladies have matriculated through this system. At the AAC it is very important that we not sit still. We will certainly miss those who have worked diligently to get us to where we are — and it has been my personal pleasure to work alongside two gentlemen that I hate to say goodbye to. We wish Jeff and Wes all the best in their future endeavors and retirement, and I know that they will both have incredibly fond memories of the AAC and county government as they move on. President John F. Kennedy once said, “Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” I appreciate that we in county government in Arkansas do a great job of keeping one eye on the past … on what got us here, while the other stays firmly focused on the future and what has yet to be done. To both Jeff and Wes, a sincere thanks from me, the AAC staff, and all of the county governments in Arkansas. May God bless you both with a prosperous and happy future!

Endorsed

COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

AAC

F a m i l y  F r i e n d s

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Resiliency in face of tornado aftermath Arkansas strong emerges from debris

he county family has been focused on Faulkner, Pulaski and White counties recently as those communities continue to pick themselves up and rebuild after a devastating tornado ripped through the heart of Arkansas on April 27. We certainly want to recognize the resiliency of these people and send our thoughts and prayers to those who lost loved ones. The term “Arkansas strong” has emerged from the debris piles as volunteers almost immediately jumped into action to help their fellow Arkansans find loved ones and sift through their strewn lives. One of the first testaments to the power of this twister was the fact that a mailbox from Vilonia came to rest more than 50 miles to the north in Cleburne County. Stories of family photos, pets and other keepsakes turning up miles and miles away also showed the state just how devastating Mother Nature can be. But in contrast, it also provided an avenue for Arkansans to show how strong we are as a people. Hundreds of volunteers ascended on the damage sites bringing water, clothing and food at first. In the following days efforts turned toward cleanup as victims tried to find some normalcy in a nightmarish situation. It wasn’t just the droves of volunteers pitching in to help their neighbors that exemplified the intestinal fortitude of our state; it was the faces of the victims themselves that told the true story of strength in the face of tragedy and adversity. News reports began to be peppered with quotes like “it’s just stuff. As long as my fam-

President’s Perspective

ily is here, we will be just fine.” Images of families smiling together while they rummaged through the debris piles of their lives became more and more prevalent. Yes, there were plenty of sad images as well, but the resilient nature of Arkansans to get back on our feet and carry on began to shine through the dust. Sixteen residents lost their lives on Hon. Mike Jacobs that Sunday. And Vilonia residents AAC Board President; were only three years removed from Johnson County Judge the last tornado that ravished their community. As the rebuilding continues and will for quite some time, we will remember our fellow counties’ tragedies, tribulations and how they rose from the devastation to show our nation just what “Arkansas strong” means. The Honorable Mike Jacobs Johnson County Judge / AAC Board President

Arkansas State Capitol SNAPSHOTS The American Revolution Bicentennial Monument and Fountain stand on the north mall. An elegant travertine canopy shelters a replica of the Liberty Bell. The bell is one of 50 distributed to the states in 1950 after a successful Liberty Bond drive. The bond sale raised $6.5 billion to help pay the military costs of World War II. In 1977, the bell was incorporated into the present design along with the adjacent fountain to pay tribute to the “Spirit of ‘76,” America’s bicentennial. For more information on your Capitol go to www.sos. arkansas.gov (AAC Photo / Christy L. Smith)

COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

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AAC

F a m i l y  F r i e n d s

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AG Opinions: From law library funds to 911 recordings AG OPINION NO. 2014-016 County Law Library excess funds not needed for the operation and maintenance of the county law library may be used for other expenditures “necessary for the improvement of justice in the county,” under ACA 16-23-102. The AG determined that the County Law Library Board may lawfully contribute law library funds to the general fund for capital expenditures to improve the courthouse, courtrooms or spaces used by officials, staff or the public in the administration of justice in the county. The funds must be excess or surplus funds, and the purpose must be necessary for the improvement of justice in the county. The AG further explained that ACA 14-14-802(a) expressly provides that the administration of justice is a necessary service that counties are required to provide for citizens. {County Law Library funds frequently accumulate significant excess funds over and above the law library operation and maintenance expenses. Working together, the County Law Library Board and county officials may address other necessary administration of justice funding needs as observed in this AG Opinion.}

AG OPINION NO. 2013-148 ACA 14-14-1205 was amended in

1997 to authorize counties to provide health insurance coverage to members of the Quorum Court. The AG confirmed previous opinions noting that the law does not authorize the extension of health insurance to dependent coverage for justices of the peace. Justices of the peace, as district officials, are not protected from the limitations under ACA 14-14-1203(d) in decreasing the annual salary or compensation of a county official.

AG OPINION NO. 2014-147 The AG concluded that the release of 911 recordings is within the authority of the head of each agency (or his or her designee) that operates a 911 public safety communications center. The 911 agencies may coordinate response to requests for 911 recordings with the county emergency management director, but there is no requirement in the law to do so. 911 recordings are generally subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and must be recorded and retained for at least 31 days. The custodian vested with administrative control over 911 recordings is the operating agency of the 911 public safety communications center (or his or her designee). The county emergency management coordinator has authorities and duties over local emergency management, which are distinct from the duties imposed over the 911 public safety operating agency

AG Opinions

or agency to record, retain and address requests for copies of 911 records. The emergency Mark Whitmore management coordinator in AAC Chief Counsel some counties also serves as the 911 public safety official, however the AG determined that the 911 operating agency official (or his or her designee) is the custodian for purposes of FOIA requests of 911 public safety records.

AG OPINION NO. 2013-142 The AG explained that a county personnel policy may not require county employees to vacate their position before filing for elective office. The AG explained that in 1997 the General Assembly enacted ACA 21-1-207, which explicitly provides, “No employee of the state, municipality, a school district, or any other political subdivision of this state shall be deprived of his or her right to run as a candidate for an elective office or to express his or her opinion on political subjects, unless necessary to meet the requirements of federal law.” Attorney General Opinions 99-155 and 98-084 likewise cite ACA 211-207 and support the same conclusion.

75 Counties - One Voice COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

AAC

F a m i l y  F r i e n d s

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Quorum court processes, legalities QUESTION: Who shall serve as the legal counsel for the county quorum court? ANSWER: The prosecuting attorney or his/her deputy serving each county shall serve as legal counsel of the quorum court unless otherwise provided by county ordinance. A quorum court may, by ordinance, provide for the appropriation of county funds for the employment of legal counsel to serve the court. (ACA 14-14-902) QUESTION: What are the duties of the legal counsel for the county quorum court? ANSWER: The legal counsel of a quorum court shall attend all regular and special meetings of the court; perform all duties prescribed specifically by law; and perform all other duties as may be required by quorum court. (ACA 14-14-902) QUESTION: What are the duties of the county civil attorney? ANSWER: A county civil attorney or county attorney may be selected pursuant to ordinance of the quorum court for each county in the state. The county attorney shall commence and prosecute or defend all civil actions in which his county is concerned. The county attorney shall give his or her opinion, without fee or reward, to any township or county official on any question of civil law concerning the county which is pending before the official. All civil duties provided by the laws of the State of Arkansas or the ordinances of the several counties to be performed by the elected prosecuting attorney shall be performed by the county attorney in those counties which have established the office of civil attorney. The office of county attorney shall be funded pursuant to appropriation ordinance of the quorum court of the county. (ACA 16-21-114) QUESTION: Are the minutes of the proceedings of the county quorum court to be recorded? ANSWER: The quorum court of each county shall provide for the keeping of written minutes which include the final vote on each ordinance or resolution indicating the vote of each individual member on the question. (ACA 14-14-903) QUESTION: Are the minutes of the proceedings of committees of the quorum court required and what is a public meeting? ANSWER: 14-14-109. Public meetings. (a) (1) All meetings of a county government governing body, board, committee, or any other entity created by, or subordinate to, a county government shall be open to the public except as provided in subdivision (a)(2) of this section. (2) A meeting, or part of a meeting, which involves or affects the employment, appointment, promotion, demotion, disciplining, dismissal, or resignation of a county government official or em12

ployee need not be open to the public unless the local government officer or employee requests a public meeting. (b) In any meeting required to be open to the public, the county quorum court, committee, board, or other entity shall adopt rules for conducting the meeting which afford citizens a reasonable opportunity to participate prior to the final decision. (c) Appropriate minutes shall be kept of all public meetings and shall be made available to the public for inspection and copying.

Fowler’s FAQs

Wes Fowler Government Relations Director

QUESTION: How shall the various ordinances and resolutions adopted by the county quorum court be maintained? ANSWER: There shall be maintained by each quorum court a county ordinance and resolution register for all ordinances, resolutions, and amendments to each, adopted and approved by the court. Entries in this register shall be sequentially numbered in the order adopted and approved and shall be further designated by the year of adoption and approval. A separate sequential numbering system shall be maintained for both ordinances and resolutions. The register number shall be the official reference number designating an enactment. The register shall be maintained as a permanent record of the court and shall contain, in addition to the sequential register number, the following items of information: an index number which shall be the originating legislative agenda number of the enactment; the comprehensive title of the enactment; the type of ordinance or amendment (general, emergency, appropriation, initiative, or referendum, etc.). Entries in the register shall also include the date adopted by the quorum court; the date approved by the county judge, date of veto override, or date enacted by the electors; the effective date of the enactment; the expiration date of the enactment; and a recording index number designating the location of the enactments. The county shall maintain a permanent record of all ordinances and resolutions in which each enactment is entered in full after passage and approval, except when a code or budget is adopted by reference. When a code or budget is adopted by reference, the date and source of the code shall be entered. The permanent record shall be so indexed to provide for efficient identification, location, and retrieval of all ordinances and resolutions by subject, register number, and date enacted. The permanent record indexing may be by book and page. At five-year intervals, all county ordinances enacted in each county shall be complied into a uniform code and published. (ACA 14-14-903) The Association of Arkansas Counties currently is in the final stages of codifying the ordinances for the counties in their risk management pool to be in compliance with ACA 14-14-903 (d). COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

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F a m i l y  F r i e n d s

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National Guard cuts planned

his winter, I spoke about the unified front demonstrated by our nation’s governors over the worrisome matter of potential cuts to the National Guard. Cuts are planned over the next two years to reduce the size of the Guard nationwide from 350,000 to 335,000. This includes about 300 soldiers in Arkansas. At our annual National Governors Association meeting in February, we made the case to President Obama and others that the National Guard gives Americans the best value for their military tax dollars. They protect us overseas while providing vital services here at home. That role on the home front has been highlighted during the past weeks, as the Arkansas National Guard has helped with continuous response to the deadly storms of April 27. Some of the Guard units that responded so effectively to tornado-ravaged communities are among those identified by the Department of the Army for future cuts. We governors have recommended an independent study of Army force structure before final cuts are determined. Legislation to create such a study has now been introduced in the U.S. Senate. Unfortunately, we’ve seen how difficult it is to pass anything in Congress these days, and the cuts currently remain in place. An even bigger blow to the Arkansas National Guard is scheduled to arrive in four years. This second round of cuts, scheduled for 2018, is a result of the sequestration law passed by Congress a few years ago. The concept behind the sequestration was that its cuts were so drastic that lawmakers would surely pass other, more palatable budget plans to prevent it from going into effect. So far, that hasn’t happened. We now know that if those sequestration cuts are enacted, our state will lose an additional 530 soldiers. The heaviest impact of this second reduction would be felt by the 39th Infantry Brigade. Let me repeat: the sequestration was an invention of Congress to force itself into action, action that has not

We want your

From The

taken place. Losing 830 Arkansas Governor National Guard soldiers by 2018 would obviously hinder the Guard’s readiness in our State. While the Guard always makes the most of the resources available to serve us, going from a total force of nearly 8,000 to less than 7,000 in four years would clearly impact their ability to perform their mission. The planned cuts still can Hon. Mike Beebe be changed, as the Army will again Governor of Arkansas review the force reduction plans in 2016. The clearest path to keeping our National Guard as strong as possible remains Congressional action. Of course, some cuts are unavoidable as deficit-reduction efforts continue. But the slashing and scattershot approach of sequestration could cost Arkansas greatly. The men and women of the Arkansas National Guard have seen their roles change dramatically since 2001. The image of the weekend warrior is no longer a valid one, as they have repeatedly fought bravely overseas, side-byside with active military forces, while continuing to serve us at home. Our state leaders in the Guard are working to minimize the impact of cuts in Arkansas, but the real possibility for action remains in Washington, D.C. You can make your voice heard, just as our nation’s governors have, about the importance of our Arkansas National Guard to our communities and to our country.

Mike Beebe The Honorable Mike Beebe Governor of Arkansas

Did an aspect of county government “make news” recently in your county? Did any of your county officials or staff get an award, appointment or pat on the back? Please let us know about it for the next edition of County Lines magazine. You can write up a couple of paragraphs about it, or if something ran in your local paper, call and ask them to forward the story to us. We encourage you or your newspaper to attach a good quality photo, too: e-mail csmith@arcounties.org.

COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

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How to handle non-grievable hearing requests

hen an employee presents a request for a hearing, we (the AAC’s Risk Management Fund attorneys) study it to decide if it presents a grievable claim — an allegation that, if true, would constitute a violation of the constitution or the law or public policy. If not, we draft a response telling the employee that the request for a hearing is being denied without prejudice to making a new request. We continue this dialogue until the problem is solved. WHY THE MODEL POLICY? The model policy is the result of our 25+ years of city and county employment litigation experience. Being a public employer, a county is required to follow the requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment: procedural due process (notice, pre-deprivation hearing, and impartial tribunal to hear both sides of the story), substantive due process (legitimate governmental reason), and equal protection of the law (no arbitrary differences in treatment). The model employment policy is necessarily complicated. We are open to any ideas that will make it a simpler policy/process. It has, however, been carefully drafted to incorporate the requirements of procedural due process (pre-deprivation hearing), substantive due process (legitimate governmental reason), and equal protection of the law (no arbitrary differences in treatment). NO CHARGE HELP AVAILABLE TO AACRMF MEMBERS: We handle county employee discipline and dismissal matters weekly. The AACRMF has authorized us to act, with no charge to the county, to handle any employment matter for any member county. (If any hearing is requested at any stage of the problemsolving process, the county pays the standard $500 AACRMF deductible. That’s it; there is no other charge to the county.) Since we represent 46 counties through the AACRMF, and we handle employee discipline and dismissal matters weekly, we have applied the model employment policy to hundreds of situations. Usually, we draft the Notice of Employment Action, stating why the elected official’s reasons are in accord with the Fourteenth Amendment (rationally related to a legitimate governmental objective, without any arbitrary differences in treatment). The Notice will offer the affected employee the right to ask for a hearing and will state that the decision to remove or reduce pay or position will not become final until after the hearing process is concluded. This is for two reasons: 1) it is required by the Fourteenth

County Law Update

Amendment and 2) it is an effective, money-saving process for protecting the county from later claims. PRE-DEPRIVATION HEARING IS BOTH REQUIRED AND HELPFUL: The procedural due process clause of the Fourteenth Mike Rainwater Amendment has been interpreted by Risk Management the Supreme Court to require a preLegal Counsel deprivation hearing. That is why pay is continued until the hearing is held or re-scheduled at the employee’s request. Paying the employee until the hearing (usually a few days) is simply the cost of following the requirements of procedural due process. It is cheap compared to the cost of litigation. (The 14day outside limit stated in the model policy is there because one county waited 11 months to make a decision and was later sued for 11 month of pre-deprivation pay. We don’t want to fight that fight again.) We do not legalistically apply the three-day request and other requirements. We will honor (give a substantive response to) any hearing request made at any time. Our objective is to utilize dialogue to find out and solve any potential (real) liability problems. If there is no potential liability problem, the request for hearing is denied. SOLVE PROBLEM NOW ... OR LATER? It is easy for any employee to claim, after-the-fact, that the real motivation for the county official’s decision was the deprivation of a protected liberty right (e.g., freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom to participate in the political process, race, color, creed, gender, national origin, orientation, etc.). All employees — including all at-will employees — have liberty rights protected by the Constitution. The hearing process benefits the employer by forcing the employee to articulate any claimed liberty-interest-deprivation. Otherwise the employee has no duty to speak and can choose to speak in a lawsuit that can be filed any time in the next three years. (Mike Rainwater, a regular contributor to County Lines and lead attorney for AAC Risk Management, is principal shareholder of Rainwater, Holt, and Sexton, P.A., a state-wide personal injury and disability law firm. Mr. Rainwater has been a lawyer for over 30 years, is a former deputy prosecuting attorney, and has defended city and county officials for over 25 years.)

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County competition yields 1,500 pounds of weight loss

Savings times 2

Wallet & waistline

n our last issue, I wrote about health and wellness that will benefit all the employees, trends and teaching our children about staying active not just those participating in this and healthy eating. This time, I want to introduce you competition. There is one county to a group of people that are leading our young people that is looking into utilizing some — and all of us — by example. unused space for an exercise room, We have a group of almost 200 county government much like Pulaski County did a few employees that have taken on the challenge of creating a years ago. Another county has turned healthy lifestyle for themselves. You could call them “big a very small, almost closet-like space Becky Comet losers,” and they probably wouldn’t take offense at all. into a workout area with a small AAC Member Benefits Manager Our “losers” have teamed up for a weight loss competition. exercise trampoline and some elastic But this isn’t just any weight loss competition. We are bands. A little bit of space, some not just interested in that number on the scale. We also donated or low-cost used equipment, have incorporated blood pressure, heart rate and waist and you have a way for people to increase their activity before, circumference. Furthermore, we have made this a sixafter and even during the workday using their break times. month commitment. This extended time frame gives People are thinking outside of the box to help their employees people time to break old habits and create some new, and coworkers become healthier. Statistics show a healthier healthier ones. This is about lifestyle changes, not a diet. workforce leads to a happier work environment, more The word diet implies that productive offices and lowered there is an end at some point, health care costs. and then we can go back to Arkansas is ranked the e are two months into the whatever we did before. Well, third most obese state in the whatever we did before got us country behind Mississippi competition and seeing where we are now. This group and Louisiana. Obesity and of “losers” wants to make those obesity-related diseases are a terrific results. These nearly 200 people long-term changes that will huge concern in this state and, have a positive impact on their therefore, in our counties. have collectively lost 1,519 pounds and health and well-being for many However, the goal of this years to come. “competition” from the 226 inches in their waists. Heart rates At this writing, we are two beginning has been much more months into the competition than weight loss. This is not and blood pressure also are moving into a and seeing terrific results. about losing a few pounds so These nearly 200 people have you have the bragging rights of healthier range for many folks. collectively lost 1,519 pounds winning. This is about making and 226 inches in their waists. the healthy lifestyle a habit. Heart rates and blood pressure At this point, our teams are also are moving into a healthier range for many folks. One set, and the competition is in full swing. However, if you are beautiful young lady told me that she was diagnosed with not on a team you can still participate. Your numbers will not diabetes last year. She has been trying to change habits and count for your team, but they will count for you. Find out lose weight but having a difficult time. She says her support who is on the “loser” team in your county and join them. The group of “losers” has been just the source of encouragement camaraderie and encouragement of a group is so important to that she needed. She’s doing so well that recently her the process. You may be thinking, “I’m just not ready to starve doctor took her off her oral medication for diabetes. She is myself and sweat my rear end off in the gym.” To that let me controlling it with healthy eating and exercise. AMAZING! say that learning to make the healthy choices 80 to 90 percent In an effort to step things up a little, we were able to of the time will make a big difference. Drink more water. Eat purchase pedometers for all our participants with a grant more fruits and vegetables. Take a walk. A 15- to 30-minute from the Arkansas Blue & You Foundation. Starting in May, walk is just as productive as a mile run, physically and we will have a “losers” step competition. The team with mentally. You can do this. It is not going to happen overnight. the highest average number of steps for a month will win a This is a marathon, not a sprint. The important thing is to do traveling trophy in May, June and July. something ... for the health of it. Our county folks are thinking about making changes

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Intergovernmental cooperation a necessary tool for efficiency

Research Corner

he federal and state forms of government are not often explored or is underutilized. It is evident cited as efficient modes for delivery of public services. that economic development works best Whereas the expressed definition and purpose of a as a regional undertaking. Economic decounty is: “A political subdivision of the state for the velopment may flourish in a cooperative more convenient administration of justice and the exercise of local environment, but where state and local legislative authority related to county affairs” (ACA 14-14-102). officials work at cross purposes, success is Mark Whitmore It is by design that county officials are assigned on-the-ground re- met with unnecessary headwinds. It’s unAAC Chief Counsel sponsibility for delivery of many essential public services. County derstood that citizens have deep rivalries officials are close to the public, aware of their constituents’ needs with neighboring communities in sports and accountable to the electorate. Department or agency officials and other areas, but when a tornado or and employees administer state and federal governments, and they disaster strikes, neighboring communities are more removed from the public and often make decisions by are the first to arrive to help. Children, neighbors and citizens virtue of slow bureaushould not suffer the consecratic processes. quences of personality differences or an uncooperative history. County officials are A true leader and public steward further expressly emwill explore opportunities for powered by the people intergovernmental cooperation under the Arkansas when the outcome will better Constitution to act cot is evident that economic development works serve the citizenry and generoperatively with other ally consider the use of the tools counties and other best as a regional undertaking. Economic deof cooperation/joint endeavors governmental agenwisely confided to them by the cies. Amendment 55, velopment may flourish in a cooperative environment, people under Amendment 55. §1(c) provides that: “A County may, for any but where state and local officials work at cross purposCooperation Borne public purpose, conof Necessity tract, cooperate, join The recent and unprecedentes, success is met with unnecessary headwinds. with any other county, ed jail and prison overcrowding or with any politiof more than 2,900 state prisoncal subdivisions of the ers in county jails statewide has State, or any other caused some state, city, county states or their political and district officials to contemsubdivisions, or with plate regional jails. The explorathe United States.” The areas of services and opportunities for counties to cooperate or join tion in some areas is limited to a couple of counties and cities. In with other counties, cities or the state are many. The justice system, other areas, the exploration is regional. Regional jails are utilized the assessment, collection and distribution of property taxes and successfully in other states to fulfill the local and state obligations the provision of emergency services represent in-depth partner- to incarcerate prisoners for their truthful sentences — and to muships with the state. Law enforcement, fire, water, sewer and roads, tually address growth in needs for bed space. Regional jails are among others, are county services affirmatively authorized by ACA proactive and counter corrections management by reactionary 14-14-802 and not expressly prohibited by the Arkansas Constitu- emergency powers. Amendment 55 and several laws such as the tion or by law. Also, cooperative purchasing or piggyback procure- Cooperative Endeavors Act, ACA 12-50-101 et seq., authorize this ment can be used to take advantage of the competitive bid process tool. Despite sustained growth in corrections for decades, to date and avoid altogether the costs and time of bidding. Coordination the cooperative undertaking of a regional jail in Arkansas has not of software research and development for collectors, assessors and been able to overcome the barrier known as “the county line.” treasurers has greatly benefited counties. The continued lack of regional jails in Arkansas will not be due The successes of intergovernmental cooperation are many. to legal obstacles. It will be from simple math. The state of ArkanHowever, there are many areas where cooperation has not been sas could greatly facilitate the creation of one or more regional jails

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in Arkansas. However, the state of Arkansas is three or more years behind the corrections growth curve. Historically, the state built additional prison beds, and then failed to appropriate the money to operate. Now, even if the state builds the 1,000 additional prison beds proposed, the current county jail back up — with or without any modest growth over the next three years — suggests a current and future need far in excess of the proposed 1,000 state prison beds. A regional jail with state participation could be funded and built much faster than a state prison, but the math of $28 a day makes the state an improbable partner. It is estimated that counties statewide are losing $18 million annually from the difference in the $28 a day and the actual costs of incarceration, medical services and food for state prisoners. Additionally, the appropriation for county jail backup for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 has a projected shortfall of more than $10 million. The General Assembly must awaken to the depth of the crisis and fully discharge the constitutional obligations of paying the just debts of the state and providing for adequate prisons. The Role of the Association of Arkansas Counties The Association of Arkansas Counties was recognized in 1967 by the General Assembly of the state of Arkansas, ACA 14-20-107, as the official agency for the counties and to make a continuing study of ways and means to improve county government in Arkansas. In the context of intergovernmental cooperation, this role ranges from helping navigate broad issues county officials encounter with state agencies and assisting in the formulation and adoption of good government legislation. The affiliate organizations for county officials likewise undertake this mission. AAC itself is an example of cooperation or association of county governments and officials. We often have found that we can do more together. The Unpaved Road User Group/Public-Private Partnership The County Judges’ Association of Arkansas (CJAA) has decided to affirmatively address concerns arising from restrictions on the use and maintenance of unpaved public roads in rural areas for accessing lands, dwellings, hunting, fishing and enjoyment. Litigation in other states and the federal courts under the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and layers of federal and state laws and regulations have potential adverse impact to use, access and maintenance of public unpaved roads. Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel informed the CJAA to the amicus curae briefs he and other states’ attorneys general filed before the U.S. Supreme Court in Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center (NEDC). The suit enjoins logging activities and storm water drainage authorized under the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. Arkansas similarly has been exposed to restrictions derived from the Endangered Species Act and applied to an area in Polk County known as Wolf Pen Gap. The CJAA in conjunction with a broad coalition of public-private program partners has been proactive and formed the Unpaved Road User Group. This fledging public-private partnership has already programmed several demonstration projects in Arkansas and conducted training for maintenance superintendents and road crews at the CJAA Road Seminar. Polk County Judge Brandon Ellison and Stone COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

County Judge Stacey Avey serve on the committee on behalf of the CJAA; and this program is proof positive that local, state and federal government agencies, private entities and the public can tackle serious issues together to better their communities and the state of Arkansas. Rural Counties Rural counties have additional challenges in conveying emergency services to their citizens. For years now, we have been seeking to address issues facing 911. Recent strides have been made in 911 commencing with the user fee increase in 2009, along with the establishment of dispatcher training through Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy (Act 1171 of 2009); closure of the loopholes on prepaid wireless phone cards (Act 623 of 2013); and recent increases in 911 funding (Act of 1221 of 2013). At the June 19 CJAA meeting, the CJAA will receive an update from Yell County Judge Mark Thone regarding the work of the Arkansas Blue Ribbon Committee on Local 911 System under Act 1171 of 2013. The Blue Ribbon Committee will serve as an excellent means to conduct a comprehensive study of the system and needs statewide. Enhancement of emergency services in partnership with Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) also has resulted in an opportunity for counties to join neighboring counties in debris removal and debris removal monitoring contracts. The counties’ respective ADEM region will bid for the contracts. Scott Perkins, AAC communications director, will unfold more details at the June CJAA meeting. This cooperative undertaking will be available to assist counties in their preparation for future emergencies and provide ready access to reasonable and competitively bid contract rates. Also, Office of State Procurement (OSP) staff will be at the meeting to help counties better access emergency quotes and the vast areas of cooperative purchasing available through OSP as provided for under the “Arkansas Procurement Law,” ACA 19-11-201 et seq. Finally, county procurement may benefit from purchases through National Association of Counties or AAC programs. Be aware that approved purchases for commodities or services other than professional or personal services may be exempt from bidding when made under the competitive bidding or procurement procedures used under a contract by the federal government, another state, an association of governments, including local governments, etc. (ACA 14-22106). In the end, county officials should consider the ways their county may benefit from cooperation with other governments or public-private partnerships.

On the Web: Better Unp aved Roads for Nature and People ®

Look for Better Unpaved Roads for Nature and People

www.arcounties.org

Search “Better Unpaved Roads.”

Some options are irresistible Fiduciary assistance and a zero-fee option for smaller public sector plans? Sweet.

Nationwide’s new 457(b) options offer smaller plans features normally only available to larger entities. Now more of the public sector can benefit from Investment Fiduciary Services provided by Morningstar Associates and a zero fee administration option — which makes life a little easier for plan sponsors while putting retirement within reach for participants.

Contact Linda Barber:

Let’s talk about putting our new offerings to work for your plan. Information provided by Retirement Specialists is for educational purposes only and not intended as investment advice. Retirement Specialists are registered representatives of Nationwide Investment Services Corporation, member FINRA. Nationwide Retirement Solutions, Inc. and its affiliates (Nationwide) offer a variety of investment options to public sector retirement plans through variable annuity contracts, trust or custodial accounts. Nationwide may receive payments from mutual funds or their affiliates in connection with those investment options. For more detail about the payments Nationwide receives, please visit www.NRSforU.com. Nationwide Retirement Solutions, Inc. and Nationwide Life Insurance Company (collectively “Nationwide”) have endorsement relationships with the National Association of Counties and the International Association of Fire Fighters – Financial Corporation. More information about the endorsement relationships may be found online at www.nrsforu.com. Investment advisory services are provided by Morningstar Associates, LLC, a registered investment advisor and wholly owned subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. Neither Morningstar Associates, LLC nor Morningstar, Inc. is affiliated with Nationwide or its affiliates. The Morningstar name and logo are registered marks of Morningstar, Inc. Nationwide and the Nationwide framemark are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. © 2013 Nationwide Retirement Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. NRM-9664M1.NX (05/13)

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AAC is proud to announce an interactive game designed for 6-12th graders and teachers that can be accessed on our Web site at www.arcounties.

Think you can run your own

County?

Look for the banner below on our Web site to play. If you earn re-election, be sure to share your experiences with us on Facebook. Players will learn about the various services provided by county departments and make tough budget decisions, handle resident complaints and concerns and face re-election.

www.arcounties.org Counties Work was created by iCivics, Inc. and the National Association of Counties (NACo).

COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

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Let’s look in the mirror for a moment

Then it’s straight ahead for AAC

elieve it or not, back in the late 70s on the very spot where our current AAC building sits, there was an old rundown frame house with a pigpen in the back complete with pigs. Pigs! One block away and within sight of the State Capitol of Arkansas. The Association of Arkansas Counties is looking back for just a moment after the completion of the latest addition to the complex under the leadership of the current executive director, Chris Villines. Founded in 1968, the association has a long track record of achievement, from legislative advocacy to constituent services. Articles of Incorporation for the AAC were filed April 10, 1968. But how did AAC get its start? We’re going to tell that story from a 1993 interview conducted by AAC staff with Jim Pledger and A.A. “Shug” Banks. Pledger was Yell County treasurer for many years, charter board member of the AAC and long-time president of AAC. He served in several capacities in Gov. Bill Clinton’s administration, including director of the Department of Finance and Administration for several years. He later went on to serve as director of the Arkansas State Fair. Judge Banks served as Mississippi County Judge for 20 years (1961–1980), was a charter board member of the AAC and served as the first president of AAC from 1968 through 1980. Judge Banks died in 2001. Mr. Pledger died in 2006. In that 1993 interview, Jim Pledger said that the idea for the Association of Arkansas Counties was “born on the beaches of Hawaii.” In the mid-60s a national county government conference was held in Hawaii. In attendance were Judge A.A. “Shug” Banks of Mississippi County and several other Arkansas county officials. It was during this meeting that the idea and the determination to provide the officials of Arkansas with some kind of organizational structure was born. The first attempt to make this idea a reality came during the 1967 legislative session. However, it failed. As you might imagine, there was much opposition to the counties becoming organized and establishing an organization that would provide representation for all county officials statewide. This setback did not deter those county officials such as Judge Banks and Mr. Pledger who were determined to create a representative organization for county government. In 1969, Senate Bill 142 was filed by Sen. John Bearden and Sen. Olen Hendrix that would create the AAC. The legislation passed through the Senate, but was then held up in the House. It appeared that it would come down to a tie vote in the House and that the speaker would have to vote so as to determine the outcome of the legislation. It also was heard that the speaker’s support for the counties was wavering and that the vote might go against the county officials. A quick delegation of a couple of county judges was put together, and they paid a visit to the Speaker of the House — Judge Ray Sikes of Little River County — and Judge Banks. The story goes that the speaker at that time was rumored to be considering a run for the governor’s office. With this knowledge in hand, Judge Sikes reminded the speaker of a couple of facts. Those facts being that “a person who supports you might figure you have the election won and decide to stay home on election day and mow his yard instead of going to the polls to vote, but a person who opposes you will swim a river to vote against you.” Upon contemplating this sage advice, the speaker wisely voted for the legisla20

Seems To Me...

tion, and the rest is history. It became Act 92 of 1969 codified as ACA 1420-107. (Judge Ray Sikes died in 1989, just about a year before his grandson, Jeff Sikes, first came to work for AAC in 1990. Jeff most recently served as the legislative director for the AAC and is leaving the employ of AAC at the end of July for other opportunities.) Eddie A. Jones Most officials currently in office County Consultant would not recognize the AAC as it is now from the association of old. The association now has a nice headquarters and provides many services that it did not and could not provide in those early years. In the beginning, the association was primarily a lobbyist organization for county government with only three staff persons. It took several years to get the various member associations cohesive enough to even put on a successful conference. According to the ’93 Pledger interview the first convention in 1972 was “only somewhat successful.” The convention was a one-day affair at the old Lafayette Hotel in Little Rock (now transformed into upscale condominiums known as Lafayette Square). Seminars were held during the day, and a banquet was scheduled for that night. It seems that most of the county officials at that time were not used to overnight meetings in Little Rock, so they simply went home after the meeting was finished. The banquet was set up to accommodate about 200, but since most officials had already left for home, only 25 showed up. To make matters worse, U.S. Rep. Bill Alexander was the keynote speaker and had flown in from Washington specifically for the banquet. It may seem funny now, but it seemed quite a disaster at the time. This is a marked contrast from our annual conferences of today. It is worth noting that for the last dozen years or so AAC has had well over 500 county and district officials in attendance at the Annual AAC Conferences, which run from Wednesday through Friday morning. And in August 2013, the conference boasted an attendance of more than 700. The differences in the quality and attendance during the conferences are not the only differences between the AAC of old days and current days. In the beginning, as might be imagined, our lobbying efforts were nowhere near as successful as they are now. It took many years to bring all the different associations together and to get them to think in terms of solidarity among all county and district officials. It also took the legislature a few years to really recognize the AAC as the agreed upon representative for all of county government statewide. It took the passage of Amendment 55, landmark legislation that reorganized county government in Arkansas, to change the AAC into the organization it is now. Today, AAC represents almost 1,400 county and district officials and nine various associations all under one umbrella. After the passage of Amendment 55 in 1974 and the subsequent passage of the enacting legislation, Act 742 of 1977 as amended, county officials were thrust into a new and more complicated system of county government. Quorum courts had new roles and the various constitutional offices were modified to one degree or another. The old fee system of funding officials was COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

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abandoned for the current system of paying all county officials salaries. It became imperative that county and district officials have a single source they could go to for information on this new and complicated set of laws. The logical provider of this single source of information was, of course, the AAC. Starting with Act 742, which was 102 pages of legislation concerning county government, and continuing on to this day, the AAC has striven to provide county and district officials with a single source of quality information. Like state and federal government — county government has grown more complex. AAC has worked diligently to keep up with the changing times of county government. Now the association not only lobbies effectively for all county and district officials, but it also gets the word out on all new legislation by holding “new legislation seminars.” The AAC office serves as a hub of information on all aspects of county government, from the oldest most obscure legislation to the newest most technical legislation to come out of the General Assembly and from the federal level in Washington. Even though AAC is seen as a lobbying organization, AAC does much more for the county and district officials of Arkansas. They hold various seminars and annual conferences; compile and print training manuals, directories and educational booklets for the counties; publish a quarterly magazine called County Lines; and provide day-to-day consultation for their constituency. The association, with the financial help of the other member associations, also grants academic and financial need-based scholarships to the children and grandchildren of county and district officials and employees. The AAC also provides benefit programs for Arkansas counties. In 1985, AAC added a Workers’ Compensation Trust for counties, and they currently provide workers’ compensation coverage for 74 counties and several other county entities. A Risk Management Fund was established in 1986. The Risk Management Fund provides counties with general liability, automobile fleet protection and a property insurance program. The AAC Risk Management Fund currently covers 47 counties or county entities and a few hundred rural fire departments. The AAC Workers’ Compensation Trust and the Risk Management Fund are completely self-funded and self-administered and in solid financial condition. County participation in these programs helps the AAC and all Arkansas counties. Your participation positions AAC to better provide the services counties need. The fees received by AAC from the in-house administration of the benefit programs and the dues paid by member counties make it possible for AAC to provide you with a 24-member staff to serve the needs of the county and district officials and employees of Arkansas counties. AAC has four attorneys on staff and two part-time law clerks plus the contracted legal defense of Rainwater, Holt and Sexton for the Risk Management Fund. It is the desire of AAC management and the board of directors to continue to grow services and staff as the need grows and funds are available. They realize that the mission of AAC is to work for the improve-

ment of Arkansas county government, and they are committed to providing a single source of cooperative support and information for all counties and county and district officials. Membership in the AAC started out slow when the association was first established in the late 1960s. But AAC has had 100 percent membership (all 75 counties) every year since 1988. Arkansas also has had 100 percent county membership in the National Association of Counties since 2007, when the AAC started paying the NACo dues for all Arkansas counties. This move has greatly improved Arkansas strength in federal legislative matters. There has been quite a change in the size and scope of AAC facilities and services in less than 50 years. The transformation has taken a mere 46 years. The AAC originally rented a small office space across the street from the Capitol with three, and then four, employees. In the late 70s, AAC bought property on Victory Street just one block from the Capitol. In 1979, the association completed and moved into its own headquarters — a 3,600-square-foot, multi-level building that served the needs of the county and district officials for many years. The total building and furnishing costs for this original county-owned facility was $220,000. The initial investment was paid off in 1987. In 1990, the AAC board of directors, under the leadership of then Executive Director Jim Baker, began to purchase adjoining property as it could. It also started a building fund that it added to annually. In 1996, the board conducted groundbreaking ceremonies for new construction and remodeling of the old facility. An additional 10,000 square feet of space was added, bringing the AAC facility to 13,600 square feet of office and meeting space. Cost for the new addition and remodeling of the old building was $1,579,000. It was completed in March 1997. With board approval, Executive Directors Brenda Pruitt and Eddie Jones continued to save money for future expansion of the facility. In 2013, Executive Director Chris Villines and the board of directors decided the time was right and the need existed to expand the facility. Now another 5,200 square feet of office space has been added — a two-level space with 16 offices and two conference rooms on the east end of the complex. And the original 3,600-square-foot area has been renovated — again! The Risk Management and Workers’ Comp employees have moved into the new wing of the complex. And the Sheriff’s Association, the only affiliate association with its own staff in addition to AAC staff, is renting six offices in the complex. This brand new addition to the AAC complex, including furnishings, a kitchen remodel and repaved parking lots cost about $1,750,000, well under the $2 million budget for the project. This 18,800-square-foot facility belongs to the counties of Arkansas, and your staff is very proud of your headquarters and the opportunity to serve you. Of course, one of the greatest assets is the fact that the AAC of-

ne reason for strength and stability of this organization is continuity of leadership. The association has had only seven presidents of the board and six executive directors in its 46-year-history.

COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

See

“AHEAD” on

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AAC

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Ahead fice complex is only a block from the State Capitol, where most of the lobbying efforts are centered. One reason for strength and stability of this organization is continuity of leadership. The association has had only seven presidents of the board and six executive directors in its 46-year-history. Other reasons for the growth and success of the AAC can be attributed to: • Mission – AAC has had an inspiring shared mission at our core; • Vision – AAC has had an idea of where we were going. A vision abstract enough to encourage people to imagine it but concrete enough for members to see it; • Competency – AAC has had competent leaders. You must be seen by the stakeholders, employees and legislative leaders as being an expert in the field of county government or an expert in leadership; • A strong team – AAC has had strong teams through the years. Realistically, few executives possess all of the skills and abilities necessary for total mastery of every area within the organization. To complement the areas of weakness, a wise leader assembles effective teams of experienced, credentialed and capable individuals who can supplement any voids in the leader’s skill set; • Communication skills – AAC has had some good communicators at the helm. It does little good to have a strong mission, vision and goals — and even a solid budget — if the executive cannot easily and effectively convey his ideas to the stakeholders inside and outside the organization; • A “can do, get it done” attitude – AAC has a record of getting it done. Nothing builds a picture of success more than achievement, and achievement is the No. 1 factor that motivates just about everyone. • Inspiration – AAC has had some inspirational leaders — both as director and board members and officers. Employees and constituents of an organization need someone to look up to for direction, guidance and motivation; and • Ambition – AAC has always been moving forward. Resting on your laurels is bad for morale and credibility. Employees and constituents need to see an organization constantly striving for improvement and success. That comes first and foremost from the leader. We have taken just a little time to look in the mirror to view the history of the AAC, and we realize that real progress has been made for the organization and for county government. But the most important step is for us to look forward — straight ahead — toward the next 45 to 50 years and imagine what progress will be made for county government in Arkansas. I have witnessed first hand the past 34 years of county government, and what a change I have seen. I envision great change over the next several years. I have hope for positive change because now, as in the past, we have some good leaders in county government — leaders who will prepare the next leaders. Walter Lippmann said, “The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.” No doubt these great facilities and a professional staff will be here many years to serve county governments in Arkansas and the county and district officials who take on the daunting task of serving the public. Carry on! COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

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<<<

Quick Facts

Presidents of the Board of Directors n A.A. “Shug” Banks Mississippi County Judge n James C. Pledger Yell County Treasurer n Hoye Horn Little River County Judge n Bert Page Pope County Treasurer n Barbara Hersom Little River County Assessor n Roy Bearden Craighead County Judge n Mike Jacobs Johnson County Judge

(1968–1980) (1981–August 1987) August 1987–1988) (1989–1990) (1991–February 1993) (February 1993–1998) (1999–current)

AAC Executive Directors n Frank Bizzell n Carl J. Madsen n Courtney Langston n James H. Baker n David Morris n Brenda Pruitt n Eddie A. Jones n Chris Villines

(1969–late 1974) (late 1974–February 1975) Interim (February 1975–1988) (1988–October 2000) (October 2000–January 2001) Interim (January 2001–2006) (2007–June 2010) (July 2010–current)

Original AAC Board of Directors n R.S. Peters, Pulaski County Clerk n Janice Phillips, Lonoke County Clerk n S.C. Langston, Lee County Sheriff [AAC Executive Director 1975-1988] n Herman D. McCormick, Yell County Sheriff n Irma Shoffner, Jackson County Circuit Clerk n Paul Shuffield, Hot Spring County Circuit Clerk n Jackson Ross, Pope County Treasurer n James C. Pledger, Yell County Treasurer n L.E. Tedford, Pulaski County Assessor n Dale Shelton, Arkansas County Assessor n Milton R. Beck, Crittenden County Judge n A.A. “Shug” Banks, Mississippi County Judge (The original board of directors had 12 members — the current board of directors consists of 17 members. The current board has two county collectors, two justices of the peace and one coroner that were not on the original board.)

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Wes Fowler, AAC governmental affairs director to retire in June.

Longtime county man makes the turn

Legacy includes stronger, more efficient government

t first glance, it might seem that Wes Fowler’s interest in county government could have been sparked by his family’s legacy of service to Madison County. But those who worked alongside him during the 26 years he was an advocate for Arkansas counties say Fowler displays the dedication and knowledge that only a natural leader possesses. “Wes Fowler is not a dabbler in county government; he is a county government connoisseur,” said Eddie Jones, former executive director of the Association of Arkansas Counties. Fowler’s accomplishments range from computerizing the Madison County Clerk’s office to ushering early voting legislation through the state legislature. “Everything he touched in county government, he left it in better shape,” said AAC Executive Director Chris Villines. Fowler will retire in June from his position as AAC’s government relations director, a position he has held since January 2011. Still, he says, he expects to keep his finger on the pulse of the counties. “I hope to still receive some calls from elected county officials,” he said.

owler was born in Twin Falls, Idaho. His parents moved back home to Madison County when he was 4. After high school, he married Rose Qualls. The couple, which has three daughters, a stepson and six grandchildren, will celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary this summer. Fowler worked at Tyson Foods and National Home Center before 24

becoming a custom homebuilder and licensed residential contractor. He also had poultry houses, and his family owns a nine-hole golf course. He made the transition to county government in 1989. It might seem a natural progression considering that his family has been active in county government for six decades. “Up until I left, there had been a Fowler in the courthouse since the early 1950s,” he said. His father served on the quorum court, and two of his cousins served as treasurer and assessor. Fowler served 10 years as county clerk. During that time, he served as legislative chair and in officer positions in the County Clerks Association. He was in line for association president when he was elected county judge in 1998. Likewise active in the County Judges Association of Arkansas, Fowler served as legislative chair, first and second vice-president, then president. He also served on the AAC Board of Directors and as AAC legislative chair. When he did not seek re-election in 2010, he joined the AAC staff. “Wes Fowler has the kind of background that makes him a very astute AAC staff member — he has ‘in-the-field’ training. Having served many years as both a county clerk and a county judge, he has great practical knowledge of county government operations, and he knows the law governing those operations. Even before becoming a member of the AAC staff he was very instrumental in helping guide the AAC legislative package through various sessions of the Arkansas General Assembly,” Jones said. COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

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owler proudly confesses to hardly ever calling a repairman. If something is broken, he prefers to fix it himself — and he’s shown a natural ability to do so throughout his life. “I built my first motor and car and hotrod when I was 16 years old,” he said. “If it needs to be fixed, I fix it.” He carried that attitude with him into county government. Early in his county clerk days, for instance, he was instrumental in modernizing the courthouse with computer equipment. “When I got elected there wasn’t even a fax machine in the courthouse — and no computers,” he said. After buying a fax machine, he bought a computer. Then he used it to computerize voter registration in Madison County even before the federal motor voter law became reality. The innovation did not stop there. He computerized the budget process, accounts payable and payroll shortly thereafter. He ensured that Madison County was on the cutting edge. “It’s hard to believe that as early as the ‘90s we had lots of counties that did not have computerization of their budget process,” Fowler said. “They still did it with a typewriter and calculator.” The assessor’s, collector’s and treasurer’s offices soon became computerized, and Fowler served as network administrator for the county. He repaired and replaced computers, ran cabling necessary for a computer network and addressed any other computer-related issues. He continued to fix things during his 12 years as county judge. When the county needed a new library, but bids for the project came in way too high, Fowler hired a couple of guys to help him dig and pour the footing, do the framing, painting, shelving and trim work. After that, “we did the same thing with the EMS station, the road shop and courthouse annex,” he said. “I tried to do a lot of facilities work while I was in office.” The county library now bears his name: The Wes Fowler Madison County Library. Once he joined the AAC staff, Fowler renovated the ACME Brick Building, which the AAC owns and leases. He worked nights and weekends for two to three months, doing everything, he said, but laying the carpet so AAC would not have to hire a contractor. Fowler’s work saved the association between $20,000 and $30,000, Villines said. “It’s been leased ever since,” Villines added.

adison County politics are an interesting mix — although Fowler, a Democrat, downplays the impact of party in his home county. He said the quorum court typically is two-thirds Democrat and a third Republican. “I have a great son-in-law on the quorum court,” and he’s a Republican, Fowler notes. But like most elected county officials in Arkansas, he maintains the job is not about party politics but about doing the best job for your county and your citizens. If he’s an activist, it is more in line with promoting good county government. As a county clerk, he spoke on the House floor before a joint session of the state legislature on behalf of the motor voter law. “It’s an honor for anybody to go down on the House floor and speak who is not a member of the House,” Villines said. Then Fowler traveled the state on behalf of the County Clerk’s Association and the Secretary of State’s office, promoting motor voter and discussing with clerks how it would affect their offices. He also was instrumental in getting Arkansas’ early voting bill sponsored by Sen. Randy Laverty. “Without Wes Fowler, there would be no early voting in Arkansas,” Villines stressed. Fowler said that prior to the institution of early voting, voters who had to be absent on Election Day had to fill out an array of forms and affidavits explaining why they could not vote on the appointed day. COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

They had to vote by absentee ballot. “We knew there had to be an easier way,” Fowler said. He was legislative chair of the County Clerks Association at that time, and he sat alongside Sen. Laverty in committee meetings, where he presented arguments in favor of the early voting initiative. In the end, Fowler said early voting was well received by legislators. “I wouldn’t call it a slam dunk, but I think we did a good enough job of selling it to the legislative body that they could see the benefits of it,” he said. Early voting is now one of the most used forms of voting in the state, Fowler said.

hile serving as government relations director for AAC, Fowler lived in Little Rock during the week and commuted back home on the weekends. He has been the first point of contact for clerks, judges and justices of the peace — via phone call and during his travels around the state. During a legislative session he could be seen daily at the state Capitol, monitoring committee meetings and often testifying for or against bills of interest to county government. “Wes is always ‘just Wes.’ He never pretends to be anyone but himself. He is comfortable with legislators, and they are comfortable with him. He always knows what he’s talking about when presenting legislation, and he always tells the truth. Because of that he establishes good rapport with legislators — they know they can trust him,” Jones said. Indeed, Fowler said he has been involved in writing election, purchasing and procedural laws for the quorum courts. But one of his most challenging AAC projects has been the codification of ordinances for the 46 counties in AAC’s risk management pool. Fowler said the process has entailed going to the counties, scanning every county ordinance passed since the adoption of Amendment 55 in 1977, and then typing those ordinances into a skeleton code that AAC staff developed. Fowler reads every code for every county after it is typed, and then he drafts legal punches to see how many of the ordinances remain applicable in the face of new state statutes. After that, he meets with each county to go over the county code with them before the quorum court adopts it. The codification project ensures that county laws are relevant and easily accessible, Fowler said. “It gets them an up-to-date code of what is actually the law of their county since 1977,” he said.

he man who has accomplished so much for county government during his 27-year career has, of course, received numerous honors. Fowler said one of the highest honors he received was in 2008, when the other 74 county judges voted him president of the County Judges Association. It is an organization he says is highly respected by state legislators. Fowler also was tagged as a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Highways. And just last year Gov. Mike Beebe re-appointed Fowler to a five-year term on the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council. In his role as a board member of the ANCRC, Fowler represents the counties and their interests. So while he plans to spend his retirement golfing, fishing and finishing construction projects for his family, Fowler isn’t walking away from county government. He can’t help himself. “I love county government,” he said. “Even when I retire, I’m still going to try to be involved in county government in some shape, form or fashion. It’s just in my blood so to speak.” 25

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Arkansas Elections Technology meeting in Saline County The Saline County Clerk’s office hosted members of the Senate and House committees on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs and the Joint Committee on Advanced Communications and Information Technology on April 9. The meeting focused on county election operations, with the clerk’s staff walking visitors through the entire election process, from voter registration to handling postelection issues. Right: Saline County Election Assistant Pam Morgan explains a ballot machine to Wendy Underhill of the National Conference of State Legislatures as Saline County Deputy Clerk Teri Brown looks on.

Above: Rep. Andrea Lea, chair, and Doug Curtis, Saline County Clerk and Sen. Eddie Joe Williams, chair, take a moment for a photo in Saline County. Above Right: Teresa Armer, Crawford County Clerk, and Rep. Charlotte Vining Douglas enjoy a break in the meeting April 9 in Saline County. Right: Saline County Computer Programmer Paul Nolte and Lib Carlisle, chairman of the Saline County Election Commission, listen to the presentations.

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AAC

Board Profiles Sue Liles

The accomplishments of which I am most proud:

Office: Tax Collector

Raising two sons who are good, strong adult men.

County I was born in: Talladega County,Alabama The hardest thing I have ever done is: What I like most about my county: The people.

Tell my Dad when my mother passed away.

The best thing about living in Arkansas: The weather, of course.You gotta love it!

If I wasn’t a tax collector, I’d be: A nurse or a teacher.

I got started in county government because: I needed a job.

You might be surprised to learn that: I was a “surprise” baby to my elderly parents.

My favorite meal: Steak, salad and baked potato.

Sue Lil es,

When I’m not working I’m:

White Count y

In my backyard.

Glenn “Bear” Chaney Office: Assessor

My pet peeve is: People who gripe about Arkansas and its ways but won’t leave.

When I’m not working I’m: Playing with grandkids, fishing, hunting or just about anything outside.

The accomplishments of which I am most proud:

County I was born in: Shelby County,Tennessee

Personal: Raising five children to know The Lord as their savior. Work: Our office progress in customer service and our business personnel processing.

What I like most about my county: Diversity — so many different things to do and see.

The hardest thing I have ever done is: Burying a friend too young.

The best thing about living in Arkansas: Two things come to my mind — The Natural State (fall foliage) and the people.

If I wasn’t an assessor, I’d be: Real estate appraiser

I got started in county government because: [A] former school teacher became assessor and thought I would do a good job as an appraiser for him.

Bear C haney, B enton

County

You might be surprised to learn that: I am shy and do not like public speaking.

My favorite meal:

My pet peeve is:

BBQ with mustard slaw, potato salad and iced tea.

People who can work but won’t.

COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

Three Arkansas counties adopt

e-billing

Shannon Chronister, data processing director for the Pulaski County Tax Collector’s office, demonstrates how taxpayers access the new e-billing Web site. By Christy L. Smith AAC Communications Coordinator

Proponents tout systems’ convenience and cost savings

axpayers in three Arkansas counties — Pulaski, Saline and Sebastian — received electronic property tax bills for the first time this year. And Saline County resident Peggy Butler, 74, said she is pleased with the system her county has implemented. “It’s more convenient, and it’s easier,” she said. Butler doesn’t have to keep up with a paper bill. Her electronic bill remains in her email inbox, so she always knows where it is. Plus, by paying her bill online, she earns credit card rewards points and avoids standing in line at the collector’s office. “From what I perceive to be the case with people 50 years old and younger, this would be the only thing they would want to do. But even with people my age, it couldn’t be any simpler,” she said. “It would seem to me that every county would want to do it.” Arkansas counties gained the ability to issue electronic property tax bills following the passage of House Bill 1023 in the 2013 legislative session. Co-sponsored by state Rep. Andy Mayberry and Sen. Uvalde Lindsey, the measure amended ACA 26-35-705 requiring county sheriffs or collectors to mail property tax statements to residents no later than July 1 of each year. Those officials now can send electronic tax statements by July 1, as well. The goal, according to language in the bill, was to streamline the billing process and to reduce the costs associated with mailing tax statements. Sebastian County Treasurer/Collector Judith Miller said she mails 28

“From what I perceive to be the case with people 50 years old and younger, this would be the only thing they would want to do. But even with people my age, it couldn’t be any simpler.”

— Peggy Butler, Saline County taxpayer

approximately 66,000 tax bills every year at a cost of 56 cents per bill. This year, 1,600 people in her county had opted to receive electronic bills only. “When you send an email out, it costs us zero,” Miller said. Pulaski County Chief Deputy Collector Bentley Hovis said it will be a couple of years before his county knows the true value of its costs savings but that the potential is great considering that it costs about $1 for the county to print and mail each tax bill. In 2012, the Pulaski County Collector’s office mailed 278,939 tax bills at a total cost of $243,135. That amount includes $12,250 for processing approximately 25,000 pieces of returned mail and another $40,232 for printing and postage of delinquent tax bills. “In some cases, people are receiving three pieces of mail,” said Hovis. “If we get 10 percent of taxpayers to opt in [for electronic billing], we would save about $30,000. That’s a sheriff’s deputy,” he said.

ulaski County Treasurer/Collector Debra Buckner said a light bulb went off in her head a couple of summers ago when she received an email regarding online car tag renewal. If the Arkansas COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

Department of Finance and Administration could electronically notify motorists that their tags needed to be renewed, then perhaps the counties could electronically bill residents for the taxes due on their property. “I came into the office the next day and said, ‘This is what we’re going to do,’” Buckner said. Many Arkansas county collectors use email notifications to let taxpayers know when their tax books are open, and residents of 45 counties can pay their taxes online. But only Pulaski, Saline and Sebastian counties have implemented a full e-billing system whereby taxpayers can opt to receive electronic rather than paper bills. “It’s a hot topic right now, especially with the big counties,” said Corey Ramsay of TaxPRO. “The bigger the county, the more interested they are.” Buckner said that when she considered the number of people who pay other bills online — and the growing use of smartphones and tablet computers — it made sense to implement an e-billing system. “We are trying to be forward thinking and meet the needs of our customers,” she said.

igures gathered by researchers indicate that more and more Americans are embracing technologies such as We are trying to be e-billing and e-shopping. In its 2011 Consumer Billing and Payment Trends study, Fiserv Inc. found that four out of five U.S. households with Internet access banked online. “Consumers are increasingly turning to online and mobile channels for everything from opening accounts to sending and receiving money,” Fiserv reported. “As consumers’ lives become more digital, new services, such as mobile payments, as well as more established ones, such as e-bills, are poised for growth.” Another firm, Deloitte, found that for the first time online shopping overtook physical shopping during the 2013 holiday season. Deloitte reported a strong link between the acceleration of online shopping and rising smartphone use. Smartphones outsold personal computers for the first time in 2011 and tablet computers are expected to outsell personal computers by 2015, according to research group IDC. Pew Research Center reports that as of January 2014, 90 percent of American adults have a cell phone. Fifty-eight percent have a smartphone; 32 percent own an e-reader; and 42 percent own a tablet computer. As of May 2013, 63 percent of adult cell owners use their phones to go online. There has been a push by Connect Arkansas, a private, nonprofit corporation, to foster broadband Internet education, use and access across the state. Only 42 percent of Arkansans had access to high-speed Internet when Connect Arkansas was founded in 2007. By fall 2013, that percentage was up to 69.

Ohio, with a population of nearly 94,000 are just a few examples. According to the Loudoun County Treasurer’s Web site, e-billing reduces the chances of a bill getting lost, which could cost the taxpayer extra money in penalties and interest. It also is a green initiative that saves tax dollars by reducing postage and handling costs. Geauga County Deputy Treasurer Dorothy Thompson wrote in an email that her county instituted its e-billing program in 2010. She said about 2 ¼ percent of Geauga County taxpayers use the system, resulting in an annual savings of $1,200. “Other than the savings to us, our taxpayers like the program because they get their bill emailed to them, and they receive their bill a little earlier than if it was mailed,” Thompson said.

he cost and effort to establish an electronic billing system vary according to the approach the individual county takes. Pulaski County began its initiative by collecting taxpayer email addresses from the county assessor’s office. Its customer service employees built upon that database by asking taxpayers for their email addresses each time they had contact. Pulaski County opted to build its own computer framework for the electronic billing system rather than contract with a third-party and biller. Shannon Chronister, data processing director for the Pulaski County Collector’s office, said it was important that taxpayers feel — Debra Buckner, their information was secure. Pulaski County Collector “One of the best decisions we made was to create the profiles here on the Pulaski County Web site,” he said. “It set us back time wise, but we have control of the data.” Pulaski County used the more than 66,000 email addresses it had gathered to send a survey asking whether those taxpayers would be willing to opt in to an electronic billing system. More than 56,000 taxpayers received the email, and a little more than 15 percent of them said they would opt in. So after the electronic billing law was passed by the state legislature last year, the county was poised to issue its first electronic tax bills. There were some initial issues. So many taxpayers responded when the February 2013 tax notifications went out that the computer system temporarily crashed; and some taxpayers’ Internet browsers were not compatible with the system. Buckner said those problems have been addressed. And taxpayers who want to pay by mail still have that option; those who don’t want to participate in e-billing aren’t required to do so. “It is voluntary,” Buckner said. “We are adding to the options. We are never going to eliminate the paper billing.”

“ forward thinking meet the needs of our customers.”

here are several examples of government entities using electronic billing as a way to save money. Denmark, for example, made a move to an electronic procurement system in 2005, when it banned all paper invoicing of suppliers. Sweden has had an e-invoicing system in place since 2008, with Finland following suit in 2010. Mexico and the United Kingdom are moving toward similar systems. Counties of various sizes around the United States have adopted electronic billing systems for taxpayers. San Bernardino County, California, with a population of more than 2 million, Loudoun County, Virginia, with a population of approximately 337,000, and Geauga County, COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

ebastian County Treasurer/Collector Miller and Saline County Collector Joy Ballard said they also made early preparations to issue electronic tax bills this year. Miller said that in 2012 her office mailed every taxpayer a postcard asking them if they wanted to opt in to electronic billing. Then the local newspaper ran an article, and her staff collected email addresses when they came into contact with taxpayers. “The collector’s office in Sebastian County is thrilled with this,” she said. “We couldn’t wait to begin.” Ballard was similarly excited about the prospect of electronic billing. She had to walk a few people through using the new system, and she received phone calls from four or five people whose software was so old that they couldn’t use the system. See

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Billing “You can’t tell them they need to go buy new software,” she said. “I sent them a paper statement, and we never got anymore complaints.” Ballard said her office incurred no extra expense to implement its electronic billing system. When she took office in 2011, she instructed her staff to gather phone numbers and email addresses for every taxpayer they encountered. They had accumulated a large database of contacts by the time her office partnered with INA in 2012 to issue an email blast to taxpayers letting them know the tax books were open. They sent email reminders midway through the year. “That’s all we could do at the time because the legislation hadn’t been passed yet,” Ballad said, referring to House Bill 1023. Ballard said her county typically mails nearly 68,000 tax statements each year. At the request of taxpayers, 5,009 of those statements were sent via email this year, saving the county $11,220 in paper and postage costs.

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“And it’s going to grow,” Ballard said of the savings. “Everyday someone signs up for e-statements. Not just one person, but several people. This is going to be a gift that keeps on giving.” Miller said she continues to get emails from taxpayers who want to opt in — and those emails aren’t coming from just the youngest of taxpayers. “You know, the really older generation does not even use computers. We know we are not going to connect with them,” she said. But she estimates that Sebastian County taxpayers well into their 60s are participating in the e-billing program. “If they are familiar with computers, they will accept it,” she said. Computers are the “way of the world” now, Buckner said. If a collector’s goal is to save taxpayer dollars, offer customers a more convenient way to pay, and increase collections, then electronic billing is the right move, she said. “Are you part of the future, or are you part of the past?” she said.

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Clark County Assessor’s staff marks Black History Month

In February, the Clark County Assessor’s office recognized the contributions African Americans have made to American history. Members of the assessor’s office staff wore matching kente cloth scarves. They also created a Black History Month display for the courthouse hallway. Pictured from left to right are Assessor Kasey Summerville, Tosha Horton, Jamie Hammond, Carla McDuffie, Sandra Peterson and Sue Forthman.

Fordyce Chamber of Commerce honors Dallas County Sheriff Left: Dallas County Sheriff Donny Ford was honored with an award for service from the Fordyce Chamber of Commerce during its annual meeting and awards banquet on March 20. Junior Miss Dallas County Lauren Archer presented the award.

Photo by S. Weathers, Fordyce News-Advocate COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

About Dallas County Dallas County was formed January 1, 1845, from Bradley and Clark counties and named in honor of George M. Dallas, who had been elected Vice President of the United States in 1844. Dallas County is known for its rolling hills and pine forests. The world’s first southern pine plywood plant was built in Fordyce, and timber resources still drive its economy. Georgia-Pacific Corp. is the county’s largest employer. Tri-County Lake, where Dallas, Calhoun, and Cleveland counties meet, offers water recreation activities. The Ouachita River, the longest and largest river in the Ouachita Mountain region, forms the western county line. 31

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Left: An architectural rendering depicts the completed project. Middle: Framing for the new addition goes up. Bottom left: Workers lay the footing. Bottom right: Scaffolding surrounds the nearly completed wing.

AAC expands headquarters, welcomes sheriff’s association The Association of Arkansas Counties Board of Directors decided last spring to expand AAC facilities so the organization could continue to grow its programs and services for Arkansas counties. The expansion will soon take the form of a two-story, $1.75 million, 5,000-square-foot addition on the east side of the existing AAC building. It will house 16 offices and two conference rooms. It also will allow for minor redesign of the east wing of the existing AAC building enabling those spaces to be utilized more efficiently. The board of directors also approved a lease agreement with the Arkansas Sheriff’s Association for a portion of the expansion. The ASA will move this summer into its new headquarters. The board of directors has made the AAC a very strong enterprise, and their focus on providing more to the counties of Arkansas is evidenced in their leadership and commitment to the future.

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Lafayette County chief deputy mourned by family, friends

19-year veteran of sheriff’s office killed in three-vehicle crash

afayette County Chief Deputy Pete Richardson was killed March 17 in a three-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 82 west of Lewisville, Ark. Officials said Richardson was transporting a homeless man to a shelter in Texarkana when his vehicle collided with a sport utility vehicle and a tractor-trailer. Richardson, 50, died at the scene of the accident. The homeless man, 28-year-old Michael Lee Ackart, was transported to Wadley Regional Medical Center in Texarkana and later moved to the Miller County jail. Ackart has been charged with second-degree murder in Richardson’s death. Officials said they believe Ackart grabbed the steering wheel of the sheriff’s office Dodge Nitro that Richardson was driving, causing Richardson to swerve into oncoming traffic. “We think that Pete was trying to regain control of the vehicle,” said Lafayette County Sheriff Victor Rose. Richardson, a native of Howard County, received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Air Force and moved to Lafayette County in 1983. He was a 19-year veteran of the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office. He started as a reserve deputy and jailor. He served as chief deputy and criminal investigator, positions he held at the time of his death, under two sheriff’s administrations. Richardson was running for election to Lafayette County Sheriff. Funeral services were held March 22 at First Baptist Church of Stamps. Those in attendance gathered afterward at the Lafayette County Courthouse for an honor guard salute and flag presentation. Richardson is survived by his wife, Melanie Richardson. The Lafayette County Press and Magnolia Reporter newspapers contributed to this report.

Top: Lafayette County Chief Deputy Pete Richardson won the Top Gun trophy in the county firearm qualifying competition. Middle: Richardson works a domestic battery case. Left: Richardson demonstrates to other deputies how to deploy a spike strip. Photos by Lucy Goodwin, Lafayette County Press COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

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Museum honors Bradley County veterans Photos of men and women in uniform grace walls Story and Photos by Michael Dougherty For County Lines

vision of what one expects to see upon entering a veterans museum might range from an artillery cannon and rifles to medals and other smaller memorabilia. A few items from the latter category are featured in the display cases that line the walls of the Bradley County Veterans Museum, but this facility primarily shows a visitor the people from this south Arkansas county who have represented the United States by serving in the armed forces. The walls are lined with picture frames — almost 2,700 of them. Most of them showcase photographs of those men and women from Bradley County. A few of the frames house a piece of paper on which the name of such a veteran is printed. Those names are the primary targets for director John Little and his band of dedicated volunteers who keep the museum operating. They want each frame to feature a photograph of a Bradley County veteran. In most cases, the photographs are of a veteran in military uniform. That’s the first choice for the display frames. But if a photograph in civilian garb is all they can find, Little and members of the board of directors of Bradley County Veterans Inc. will be proud to place it on the wall. “We’d rather have [a photograph] of the veteran in uniform,” Little said, “but if another picture is all the family has to give us or if that’s all we can find, we’ll take it.”

Little, 75, is from Warren and has lived here most of his life. He flew helicopters unofficially (when he was listed as a mechanic) his first time in the Army and was a trained pilot of helicopters when he re-entered the Army after he went to school, later flying them on missions in Vietnam. After retiring from the service with his 20 years in, he traveled the country, working with pilots in National Guard units. It was during one of those trips in the 1990s that Little got the idea for what is now the Bradley County Veterans Museum. “I stopped at a museum up there in Branson (Missouri) and it had all these photographs of these people who had served,” Little said. “Now, they had other things on display there … the military stuff, things like that … and they charged people admission. But even though that wasn’t the main part of that museum, those photographs are what I came away with, and that’s where the idea for this museum came from.” BUILDING CONSTRUCTED IN 1922 he building housing the Bradley County Veterans Museum originally was an American Legion Hut built by veterans of the First World War upon their arrival home in Warren. It was completed in 1922. It served as the home of numerous community organizations over the years, including various veterans groups. But by 2002, it had reached a state of decline that appeared to have it on a list for dismantlement. That’s when members of the local chapters of the American Legion (Martin-Tate Post 82), Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW Post 4564) and Disabled American Veterans (DAV Chapter 11) met and decided to form Bradley County Veterans Inc. as a 501(c) (3) organization to try to save the structure and create the Bradley County Veterans Museum. The group developed a 10-part plan that started with the jacking up of the building, reworking the foundation and adding new window sills. From there, volunteers with the project added a new roof and then made necessary repairs and improvements to electrical, plumbing, carpentry and painting elements, as well as placing siding to the building. The flooring material consists of ¾-inch

The museum commemorates the service of members of the U.S. armed forces who hailed from Bradley County. 36

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Left: Museum Director John Little, who served in Vietnam, talks about some of the items housed in the museum’s display cases. Above: The walls of the museum are lined with photographs of veterans in uniform. The museum is expanding to accommodate more photographs. oak, donated by Tommy Maxwell, originally from Warren, who has a hardware store in Monticello. Finally, on the inside, a rail system was developed to allow movement of the 8- by 10-inch photo frames, as changes and additions to the gallery were made. On the outside, local volunteers reworked the lot, including the addition of shrubbery, a phase that included help from members of the Warren High School football team. Two local banks each contributed a flagpole to the grounds at 210 N. Main St. It was a project that began in January 2003 and was finished in time for the dedication on Veterans Day, 2005. ULTIMATE SACRIFICE ne room features the photographs of those who died in service to the United States. To date, the museum counts 18 making the ultimate sacrifice in World War I; 61 in World War II; five in Korea; five in Vietnam; and one in Afghanistan. In addition to the photo gallery of those who served, the museum maintains a computer database of the military and personal histories of those who served, participates in gathering oral histories of veterans and provides the community with appropriate ceremonies and programs each Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Little said the volunteers receive some computer assistance from students at Southeast Arkansas Community-Based Education Center (SEACBEC). The building also houses the office of county veterans service officer Dorothy Anders, which has a separate entrance off Veterans Street. A staff of about 10 volunteers keeps the museum open six days a week. “We are the second-largest tourist attraction in the county,” Little said, acknowledging that the most popular attraction is the Bradley County Pink Tomato Festival, which occurs each June and this year features entertainment by Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder on June 14.

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“This place is something special,” Little said. “We have all kinds of groups come through here … church groups, members of high school reunions and family reunions. I wish you could see some of the kids that visit. It’s something to see the look on a sixth-grader’s face when they see a picture of their grandfather or of their mother on that wall.” He said occasionally, a family member, upon returning to Warren for a visit and going through the museum, will go home and immediately send a photograph of their loved one whose frame was missing a picture. Board members of Bradley County Veterans Inc. meet the second Saturday of each month (except for December) in the museum conference room. The board consists of two members each from the American Legion, VFW and DAV, with the seventh and eighth members appointed by the Bradley County judge (since 2007, Keith Neely). Chairman of the board is Harry Lee “Buddy” McCaskill, the only World War II veteran on the board. McCaskill was among those members of “the Greatest Generation” who took part May 3 in the final Honor Flight to depart from Arkansas, which took WWII veterans from Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport to Washington, D.C., to see the National World War II Memorial. Some of the board members are among the volunteers that keep the place open; others are interested members of the community. Little said the museum has room remaining for the photos of 28 more veterans. They expect those to be filled by the end of the summer. Because of the diminishing free space, the group began construction in March on a 36- by 40-foot addition to the building, which will approximately double the facility’s current 2,800 square feet. Funding comes from donations, memorials, grants and fundraising events sponsored by Bradley County Veterans Inc. Information on the Bradley County Veterans Memorial is available by calling (870) 226-2329 or going online to www.bradleycountyveterans.org. 37

C ounty O fficial

P rofile “My passion has been elections. I like technology. I want to make them easier and more accessible for people to vote.”

— Crystal Graddy, Boone County Clerk

Top: Crystal Graddy with a photo ID camera and printer. Right: Crystal Graddy works with Merrissa Bridges in the Boone County Clerk’s office.

Improving voter technology a priority for Boone clerk

By Rob Mo ritz For County Lines

everaging the latest technologies to improve services to residents may well be Boone County Clerk Crystal Graddy’s specialty. Indeed, in the 17 years that she has served in the clerk’s office, Graddy has embraced everything from an electronic voting machine pilot program to an initiative that allows Boone County voters to cast a ballot at any precinct they wish. State legislators took notice of the latter initiative, adopting a similar statewide measure during last year’s legislative session. “My passion has been elections. I like technology. I want to use it to make it easier and more accessible for people to vote,” Graddy said. Boone County, which borders Missouri in north Arkansas, has a population of nearly 37,000, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. Graddy’s family moved there from Oklahoma when she was 7 years old. A graduate of Valley Springs High School, just southeast of Harrison, Graddy went to work in the clerk’s office in 1997, when David Witty was clerk. “I’ve held every position in the office,” Graddy said. Her first job was working probate. She was elected county clerk 38

in 2006. Six years later she asked the Boone County Quorum Court to change the county’s election law so residents could vote at any of the county’s precincts. Graddy said voters had complained to her both before and after the 2010 redistricting about the distance they had to travel to their polling places. Even before redistricting one resident had to vote 15 miles away from his home, even though there was a polling place just 5 miles away. Another voter — a woman who relied on her daughter to drive her to the precinct where they both voted — found that after redistricting she no longer shared a polling place with her daughter. In fact, her new polling place was several miles away. “I thought, ‘How do I make everybody happy?” Graddy said. Since all precincts in the county had electronic books, Graddy began asking, “Why can’t they vote wherever they want to?” Quorum court members agreed that voting should be more convenient, and they unanimously passed an ordinance allowing voters to cast a ballot at any precinct in the county. Boone County Justice of the Peace James Widner, who sponsored Graddy’s proposal before the quorum court, said he saw first hand during the 2012 election that the initiative had made voting easier for people. COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

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Pictured are Crystal Graddy, Chris Graddy, Kayla Graddy, Hannah Wilburn, Ben Wilburn, James Wilburn and Chase Graddy. “In my district, there was a problem … with long lines in one precinct, and we were able to get voters to just go down the road to the neighboring precinct, and it sure eased the situation up,” he said. “Everybody got through in a timely manner.” James Trammell of Harrison was superintendent of the Alpena School District in 2012. He said the law change proved convenient for him. “I thought it was the greatest thing going on Election Day … super efficient,” he said. Unable to vote early in the morning because he had to be at work, the new law allowed Trammell to walk during his lunch hour to the voting precinct in Alpena, where he cast a ballot, even though his assigned precinct was more than 10 miles away in Harrison. “I was able to vote right there at Alpena, and it took me all of about five minutes, as opposed to trying to get back to the polls back in Harrison,” he said. After learning of Boone County’s election law change, state Reps. Mary Slinkard of Gravette and Nate Bell of Mena proposed a statewide initiative to allow other counties do what Boone County had done. Act 1297 of 2013 allows all counties with electronic poll books to allow voters to cast ballots at any precinct in their county. “It’s voluntary, they don’t have to do it if they don’t want,” Graddy said.

n her capacity as county clerk, Graddy also serves as second vice president of the Arkansas Association of County Clerk’s,

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and she sits on a number of committees with the Association of Arkansas Counties. She also is on the Commission of State Land’s advisory group. The meetings keep her busy, but she still finds time to help her son raise show chickens and to referee high school volleyball matches. Graddy and her husband Chris, an Arkansas state trooper, have four children between them. The oldest, 23-year-old James Wilburn, is a graduate of North Arkansas College in Harrison and owns a trucking business in town. Ben Wilburn, 22, is set to graduate from the University of Arkansas in May with a degree in agriculture business. He has received an assistantship at the university, where he plans to pursue a master’s degree in economics. His wife, Hanna, has a degree in Spanish from the university and plans to become a registered nurse. Kayla Grady, 21, is studying early childhood education at North Arkansas College and plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree from Arkansas Tech University. The Graddy’s youngest child, 16-year-old Chase, is completing his sophomore year at Valley Springs High School and serves as manager of the basketball team. Through his participation in Future Farmers of America, Chase introduced his parents to raising and showing chickens. “We own a little farm, and the two older sons showed cattle,” See

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Graddy said. “I would help feed them sometimes, but that was never really my thing. We no longer have the cows. Now we have show chickens.” She estimates there are about 100 chickens on the farm now, including Heritage breeds such as Dark Brahma and the Lavender Orpington. Chase has won several championships since he started showing chickens three years ago — grand champion at the Boone County Fair and at the district fair. He was named reserve grand champion at the Arkansas State Fair in Little Rock. “The birds are a high maintenance thing in our lives right now,” Graddy said. Still, she finds time to referee high school volleyball. Graddy herself played volleyball in a church league while she was in high school. Then several years ago, she met a high school volleyball referee who suggested she attend some matches and consider working the games. Soon enough, she was. “After about a year I was refereeing,” she said, adding that her husband also is a referee, with a resume that includes high school basketball, softball and volleyball games. In the past four years, Graddy has refereed state tournament games.

ooking ahead at the 2015 legislative session, Graddy said that a move to consolidate all elections could prove to be the biggest election issue. If lawmakers, who see the move as a way to save costs, consolidate elections, there will no longer be separate elections for school districts in September. Graddy said a major stumbling block in that proposal is that a large number of counties in the state still use paper ballots, which will make it difficult for them to consolidate elections. Counties with electronic ballots would not have the same problem, she said. “I’m not opposed to the idea, but it would make it much more difficult on those clerks [in counties with paper ballots],” she said. “With just paper ballots, it’s going to be a huge problem.” And further down the road, the replacement of aging electronic

Graddy helps her youngest son, Chase, raise chickens. The Graddy farm has about 100 chickens, including Heritage breeds. voting machines will be a primary concern for counties, Graddy said. “An electronic voting machine costs thousands of dollars to replace,” she said, noting that she would like the state to someday conduct all elections online. “This is 10 to 20 years down the road, but I think that is where we are headed,” Graddy said. “People my age and younger, I don’t think would have a problem with it.” She admitted many people are skeptical about security online, but online voting is something that could work out over time and would probably save the state and counties a lot of money, she said. “I think that needs to eventually be considered.”

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Find County Lines online and see our Web site which contains data an on all 75 counties, legislative updates and much more.

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Collectors gather in Mountain View

Left: Cross County Chief Deputy Collector Mary Kate Blake asks a question. Above: AAC Executive Director Chris Villines with Columbia County Collector Cindy Walker and Van Buren County Collector Lisa Nunley.

Angie Martin, Ron Jones and Mary Mabray of the Pulaski County Collector’s Chief deputy collectors Krista McCalla and Yvette Sigafus office visit during a break between conference speakers. (back row) with collectors Cathy Brightwell of Marion County and Willa Mae Tilley of Baxter County (front row).

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Circuit Clerks welcome familiar face in Spa City

Above: Sharon Blount-Baker, Arkansas Circuit Clerks Association president and Crawford County Circuit Clerk, presents “Elections Do’s and Don’ts” during the continuing education conference in Garland County in March. Right: Chris Villines, AAC executive director, introduces Jonathan Greer, who rejoined the AAC staff in June. Greer is currently the Saline County Attorney and he served previously as AAC counsel.

AAC’s 46th Annual Conference will be held Aug. 20-22 at the Little Rock Marriott and Statehouse Convention Center. Go to www.arcounties.org.

Assessors hold meeting in Hot Springs

Assessment Coordination Department Deputy Director Faye Tate (left) and Director Debra Asbury (right) speak during the Arkansas Assessors Association’s continuing education seminar held in March in Hot Springs. COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

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Clerks hold continuing education conference

Top: The Arkansas County Clerks Association conducts its winter continuing education conference in February at Embassy Suites in Little Rock. Arkansas State Board of Election Commissioners, Ethics Commission and Secretary of State’s office presented information to the clerks and staffers. Right: Graham Sloan, Arkansas Ethics Commission director, explains the basis of ethics requirements and law in the state of Arkansas.

Coroners plan new game-changing program The Arkansas Coroners Association executive board of directors meets in February in North Little Rock to plan its recently formed continuing education program. Act 551 of 2013 created the coroner’s education program. Front row, left to right: Stuart Smedley, Garland County; Leonard Krout, Pope County; Faulkner County Coroner Pat Moore, president of the association; Gerone Hobbs, Pulaski County; Pam Wells, Crawford County. Back row, left to right: Gerald Curtis of ARORA; Mark Whitmore, AAC chief counsel; Dr. Charles Kokes, chief medical examiner, Arkansas State Crime Lab; Daniel Oxford, Benton County; Kevin Cleghorn, Saline County deputy coroner; Donna Wells, Yell County; Juan Reyes, ALETA; Bradley Hays, Baxter County.

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Treasurers’ topics include trends in public service

Left: Marion Barnard, Columbia County Treasurer, and Betty Boling, Montgomery County Treasurer, listen to Arkansas County Treasurer Association President Judy Beth Hutcherson discuss hot topics for treasurers. Above: Pulaski County Treasurer/Collector Debra Buckner talks about the trends in public service in Arkansas.

Gov. Mike Beebe tells treasurers and county judges how much he appreciates county officials throughout the state.

Washington County Treasurer Roger Haney and Deanna Ratcliffe, Benton County Treasurer, review the business meeting minutes before approval.

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Legislative session on agenda for judges Top Left: Lonoke County Judge Doug Irwin explains his views on proposed legislation for the 90th Arkansas General Assembly. . Top Right: Sebastian County Judge David Hudson also shares his thoughts on the County Judges Association’s legislative efforts for the next session. Above Left: Yell County Judge Mark Thone and Logan County Judge Gus Young talk about opportunities for interns in county emergency management. . Above Middle: Cross County Judge Jack Caubble expresses his thoughts during a business meeting concerning AAC scholarships. . Above Right: Wes Fowler, AAC governmental affairs director, facilitates a business meeting while Michael Lincoln, White County Judge and president of the County Judges Association of Arkansas, looks on. Left: Mickey Pendergrass, Baxter County Judge, reacts to president Michael Lincoln’s comments about the plans for the summer meeting. COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

The Association of Arkansas Counties Working for county officials toward the common goal of effective county government...

id you know that counties are subdivisions of Arkansas state government? As such, our county and district elected officials and staffs are like gears in a large and complex engine. AAC’s goal is to keep that engine welloiled and finely-tuned by providing a broad array of:

• Legislative Representation • Education and Training • General Assistance and Research • Publications & Public Information • Protection Options: AAC Risk Management & Worker’s Compensation Programs AAC serves as the official voice of county gov-

ernment at the state Capitol, and serves as the Our Mission The Association of Arkansas Counties supports and promotes the idea that all elected officials must have the opportunity to act together in order to solve mutual problems as a unified group. To further this goal, the Association of Arkansas Counties is committed to providing a single source of cooperative support and information for all counties and county and district

www.arcounties.org

official spokesperson and liaison of Arkansas counties in dealing with state and federal agencies. The key to the stability and development of county government is in presenting a unified voice to other levels of government. There is much truth in the adage, “There is strength in unity.” The Association of Arkansas Counties provides training and assistance in solving problems and in developing “best” practices. AAC produces numerous publications to help county officials with both simple and technical questions, so they can get needed answers without having to reinvent the wheel. This information is available through numerous training workshops, helpful brochures and directories, County Lines magazine, and online at the website: www.arcounties.org

officials. The overall purpose of the Association of Arkansas Counties is to work for the improvement of county government in the state of Arkansas. The Association accomplishes this purpose by providing legislative representation, on-site assistance, general research, training, various publications and conferences to assist county officials in carrying out the duties and responsibilities of their office.

Chris Villines Executive Director

AAC

F a m i l y & F r i e n d s

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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.

www.naco.org Faulkner County braced for tornado after years of disaster By Charlie Ban When a tornado tore 42 miles through north-central Arkansas in late April, Faulkner County was ready to respond, thanks to a series of disasters, including another tornado, over the last three years. The tornado was one of an outbreak of seven over four days in the central and southern states that lead to at least 35 deaths. “We’d been having weekly disaster preparedness meetings for the last year for just this kind of event,” said David Hogue, the county attorney and public information officer. “As much as we complained having those meetings once a week, we were prepared because of that. We’d been ready for months.” The April 27 tornado’s northwestern path took it through the two sites of recent disasters — Mayflower, where crude oil spilled out of a ruptured pipeline in 2013; and Vilonia, site of another tornado three years and two days before. That twister claimed four lives. The Mayflower oil spill, shortly into then-recently appointed County Judge Allen Dodson’s tenure, prompted him to prioritize disaster planning. “We were in that frame of mind,” he said. “We were dealing with the oil spill in our own county and then the Moore, Oklahoma tornadoes happened (killing 24 people in May 2013). That naturally led to thoughts that something like that could happen anywhere” — and it had already in Faulkner County.” As of May 1, 328 homes in the county were destroyed and President Obama had approved a disaster declaration for the county. The National Weather Service rated the tornado EF4, with winds between 166 and 200 miles per hour, and noted it was the first EF4 tornado of 2014. The 2011 storm was EF2, with winds between 111 and 135 miles per hour. The response to the 2014 twister has been quick and organized, Hogue said. “It’s been machine-like.” “(OEM Director) Sheila McGee is wonderful at her job because she’s had these experiences and can put them to use,” Hogue said. “People learn from her quickly. We had our crews clearing the roads that allowed linesmen to come in and restore power, and our search and rescue operations were complete within a day. Those personnel moved onto damage assessment and debris removal.” After the storm, the county registered more than 12,000 households without electricity, which was down to 4,000 the next day and roughly 1,500 four days after the twister. “Road crews knew what to do. The county administrator knew what to do; law enforcement knew; the IT department knew what to do,” Hogue said. “IT has been especially important because they’ve helped with public information throughout this. “At this point, we had enough experience in our county administration that instead of catching us off guard, this tornado just felt like ‘challenge number three.’” Dodson said the county’s expanded exercises handling several potenCOUNTY LINES, spring 2014

tial disasters, including tornadoes and train derailments, has helped the county of 113,237 north of Little Rock prepare more comprehensively. “The people whose job it is to prepare for disasters, you don’t have to motivate them, they know it’s important,” he said. “It’s the other departments and stakeholders whose lives don’t revolve around these things, that’s who you have to convince.” Dodson said that was accomplished by letting representatives from other departments and jurisdictions see the approach the office of emergency management brings to the exercises. “Pull in the other big stakeholders so your attendees see the value of the other disciplines,” he added. “Content drives success, so bring in your city and county representatives, law enforcement, state and federal environmental protection representatives and get everyone on the same page. Go big. Get real, and do it.” NACo annual conference to be held in July Registration is open for the National Association of Counties’ 79th Annual Conference and Exposition, to be held July 11-14 in Orleans Parish, (New Orleans) Louisiana. The opening session speaker will be Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Russel L. Honore, commander of Joint Task Force Katrina and Global Preparedness Authority. Education workshop topics include “Plan for Procurement: Lessons Learned from Disasters,” “Creating Lasting Wealth and Prosperity through Economic Diversification” and “Being Your Own Public Information Officer,” among others. The annual conference provides county officials with an opportunity to vote on NACo’s policies related to federal legislation and regulation; elect officers; network with colleagues; learn about innovative county programs; find out about issues impacting counties across the country; and view products and services from participating companies and exhibitors. Go to www.naco.org for more information about the conference. Register online to receive a discount of $25 off the regular registration fee. Behavioral health parity: What counties should know By Emmanuelle St. Jean The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) of 2008 requires health plans to provide coverage for mental and substance use disorder services on par with medical/surgical benefits for individuals with employer-sponsored health plans with 50 or more employees. In November 2013, the federal government published its final regulations for the law. Why is this important to counties and what does it mean for counties? Almost 1 in 5 American adults had a mental, behavioral or emotional disorder in 2012, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. About 14.5 percent of American adults received mental health See

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AAC

Family

a n d F r i e n d s

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Receptionist — Whitney Barket Family information: I have a wonderful husband, Jonathan Barket, of nearly three years. He is a software developer at Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health. We have two cats, Henry and Fuzzy, and one dog, a boxer named George Harrison. My favorite meal: I am a cheese dip fanatic and a sweet tea-a-holic.

thing I have ever done is watch my family members fight for their lives. My mother was diagnosed with colon cancer a month before we were married. Since then my 5-year old-nephew has been fighting Burkitt’s lymphoma, and most recently we’ve lost my father-in-law to lung cancer. It’s been an honor to be able to support them and care for them. At the top of my bucket list is to: Have children, to ride in a hot air balloon and to travel to Italy and the Greek Islands.

When I’m not working I’m: Cooking! I even have a food blog – www.turquoisekitchen.com. You might also find me hanging out with my family, crafting or painting in my studio. The accomplishment of which I am most proud: Being married to the sweetest, most supportive husband in the world. He is a brilliant man and, with him by my side, I can conquer the world.

My pet peeve is: People who don’t follow the “Golden Rule.” Whitn ey Bark et

The hardest thing I have ever done: Undoubtedly the hardest

Motto or favorite quote: “Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.” Ernest Hemingway

Endorsed

COUNTY LINES, spring 2014

AAC

C o n f e r e n c e R e c a p

Association of Arkansas Counties Workers’ Compensation Trust

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hen you participate in the A A C Wo r k e r s ’ C o m p e n s a tio n Tru s t, 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 – t h e y ’ r e s i m p l y t h e b e s t a t w h a t t h e y d o ! 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 $ 2 4 MI L L I O N dollars in dividends, payable to members of the fund. In fact, we mailed $1,000,000 in savings back to member counties in July 2013.

The service is available for any size county government and other county government-related entities. We’ve got you

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Members enjoy dividends! $24 Million paid since 1997

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Debbie Norman

Risk Management & Insurance Director

501.375.8247

Debbie Lakey

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Kim Nash

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Tammie Scarborough

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Barry Burkett Loss Control 501.375.8805

1415 West Third Street • Little Rock, Arkansas 72201

Kim Mitchell

Admin. Assistant 501.375.8805

Brandy McAllister RMS Counsel 501.375.8805

AAC

Family

a n d F r i e n d s

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NACo news briefs treatment or counseling in the past 12 months. The survey also found that of the 23.1 million people 12 years of age and older who needed treatment for substance use, 20.6 million did not receive treatment at a specialty facility (i.e., hospital inpatient, drug or alcohol rehabilitation or mental health centers). While there are no current estimates of the costs to employers, previous research indicated mental illnesses and substance use disorders cost employers 217 million days of work loss and work impairment and $17 billion annually. The parity law ensures individuals with a mental illness or substance use disorder will have coverage for treatment and services that is comparable for the services and treatment they receive for other health conditions. The Affordable Care Act enhances the parity law by requiring coverage of treatment for mental health and substance use disorders. These two laws interact with one another and have significant implications for counties as employers. Below are some of these implications. n County health plan mental health and substance use disorder treatment coverage should comply with the MHPAEA regulation. n State parity laws may be stronger than MHPAEA. If this is the case, health plans should comply with state laws and regulations. n Health plans cannot have different limits on co-pays, deductible, and co-insurance for mental health and substance use disorder treatment than on physical health treatment – this is particularly important for employers that may have a “carve out,” i.e., the behavioral health services are provided by a different insurer than the one that covers physical health. n Current health plans should not have any annual or lifetime dollar limits on behavioral health services. n Employees should be provided with information about their benefits and be allowed to appeal if their insurer denies a claim n The federal parity law does not apply to retiree-only health plans. As counties seek to ensure the health and well being of their employees, optimizing behavioral health coverage is critical as the economic and social costs are high. In conjunction with the Affordable Care Act, the federal mental health and addiction parity law offers employees living

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with behavioral health conditions access to care and effective treatment to lead healthy lives. Georgetown University to offer new $5 million energy prize By Rob Pressly Georgetown University has announced a new competition for communities to develop energy programs that will reduce their energy consumption. Application deadline is June 30. The Georgetown University Energy Prize competition is offering a $5 million prize to a local community that can come up with the best longterm energy efficiency plan for “innovative, replicable, scalable and continual reductions in the per capita energy consumed from local natural gas and electric utilities.” Ultimately, the award aims to create new ways for counties and local communities to think about how and why they use energy, with a focus on the role of energy reduction in tackling the energy and environmental challenges they face. The competition is open to any county, city or town with a population between 5,000 and 250,000. There are some 8,892 eligible communities, which represent nearly two-thirds of all the communities in the nation. Go to www.guep.org/who-can-compete to see if your county is eligible. Participating counties will be required to create a long-term plan for energy reduction, as well as demonstrate their plan’s preliminary effectiveness for two years. Plans will be judged on a number of factors, including how well they: n Create innovative approaches and techniques for reducing per-capita energy use n Develop best practices to unite citizens, local governments, businesses, and electric utilities n Educate the public, especially students, on energy efficiency issues and the benefits of reducing energy use n Increase the visibility of the work that Georgetown University and the prize’s sponsors are doing to develop new strategies for reducing energy usage and increasing energy efficiency

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Spring 2014 County Lines Magazine

Articles inside

Treasurers topics include trends in public service

Circuit Clerks and Assessors meet

Collectors gather in Mountain View

Legislative session on agenda for judges

Museum honors veterans from Bradley County

Lafayette County chief deputy killed

Three counties issue electronic bills to taxpayers

Seems to Me

Savings Times 2

From the Governor

County Law Update

FAQs: Governmental Affairs

President’s Perspective

From the Director’s Desk

Research Corner

Attorney General Opinions