Reflecting on session and things to come

Doug Curtis

Marty Boyd

Heather Stevens

Brenda DeShields Selena Blair

Bobby Burns

National Association of Counties (NACo) Board Affiliations

Debbie Wise: NACo board member. She is Randolph County Circuit Clerk and president of the AAC Board of Directors.

Brandon Ellison: NACo board member. He is Polk County Judge and vice-president of the AAC Board of Directors.

Ted Harden: Finance & Intergovernmental Affairs Steering Committee. He is a member of the Jefferson County Quorum Court.

Barry Hyde: Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee. He is the Pulaski County Judge.

Rusty McMillon: Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee. He is Greene County Judge

Kevin Smith: IT Standing Committee. He is the Sebastian County Director of Information Technology Services.

Gerone Hobbs: Membership Committee. He is the Pulaski County Coroner.

Paul Elliott: Vice-Chair of Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee, vice-chair of law enforcement subcommittee. He is a member of the Pulaski County Quorum Court.

Ellen Foote: Community, Economic & Workforce Development Steering Committee. She is the Crittenden County Tax Collector.

Tawanna Brown:Telecommunications & Technology Steering Committee. She is Chief Computer Operator for Crittenden County.

Mark Whitmore told me years ago, as I embarked on my first legislative session in the director’s seat, that a legislative session is not just a race … it is a marathon. Truer words have never been spoken. I used to run 5K races, though my current physique would never impart that thought. But the hardest part of running the race (if you are running it right) is the beginning and the end. In the beginning you must pace yourself to have stamina throughout. Once the proper pace is achieved you must maintain it (the easier part) so that when the crushing pressure of the final half mile hits you, you have the strength to finish strong.

I say this to tell you I am incredibly proud of the legislative team we’ve assembled here at the AAC. They have learned to run the race wisely, to put aside rapid gratification and settle in for the long-haul of our biennial regular sessions, and to have exhausted their strength as the sine die line is crossed. There is a plethora of material in this edition of County Lines that covers specific bills and impacts on our county officials, so I won’t double those efforts in this column. But I do have the personal privilege to brag a bit on our staff here.

Many of you are beginning to hear from our staff liaisons. They are presenting to your respective associations about specific bills (now Acts) that will impact your positions. I want to take a moment to give a well-deserved thank you to them here. To our first bill reader and Treasurer liaison Eddie Jones, our Chief Counsel and Judge/Coroner/Sheriff liaison Mark Whitmore, our County Clerk/Circuit Clerk/JP/Assessor liaison Lindsey French and our Judge/Collector/Circuit Clerk/ JP liaison Josh Curtis ... THANK YOU!

And to you, our honorable county officials… THANK YOU! With approximately 85 percent of our AAC package bills being approved, we had an incredibly successful session. As I’ve mentioned before and will again, our vetting process demands we put quality legislation on the table. This shows when we are successful session after session. And with the great relationships you all have with your legislators, it is an enviable position to be in when we discuss legislation with someone who has already heard from the expert – YOU!

As we close the chapter on a successful 2023 Regular Session, I also cannot thank enough the legislators themselves along with our state constitutional officers including Governor Sanders for the hard work and countless hours put in to making Arkansas’ state and local government second to none. And for the staffs of the respective chambers, the Bureau of Legislative Research, and the constitutional offices, thank you all for your commitment to excellence and hard work during this and every other session.

For me personally, I feel a tinge of melancholy knowing that some of my favorites in the legislature will be going through their last sessions, like retiring Rep. Lanny Fite from Benton. As the former county judge of Saline County, he has been a good friend and a great mentor to me — and a fantastic ambassador for county government. He has led well and always does so with the thought of how