Governor’s Mansion Reception

SeSSion Socializing

NET•WORK•ING Receptions provide the glamorous side of legislative game plan

Gov. Mike Beebe welcomed county and state officials to the Governor’s Mansion in January as the Association of Arkansas Counties hosted a reception in conjunction with the Arkansas General Assembly’s first-ever fiscal session.

It was an opportunity for county officials to relax and visit with many of their senators and representatives, and to strengthen important relationships as the legislature prepared to take up business critical to stable county government.

Governor Beebe greets Poinsett County Assessor Johnny Rye and other county officials as they make their way into the Governor’s Mansion.

Guests sample the reception food. Above: Eddie Jones, AAC Executive Director; Sen. Blanche Lincoln; and Johnson County Judge Mike Jacobs, AAC Board President

Below: Board President Jacobs with Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice William L. Waller Jr. (center) and Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Hannah

Gov. Beebe chats with Greene County Judge Jesse Dollars; at far left is Jackson County Judge Kerry Tharp,

First Lady

Ginger Beebe and Patti Hill

Rep. Nathan George and daughter Janae; AAC Director Eddie Jones; Sen. Randy Laverty

Rep. Barbara Nix, Saline County Collector Chris Villines, Sen. Shane Broadway

The reception area of the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion lends itself to relaxed mixing and mingling; taller tables on the side offer another option for conversation.

Rep. and Mrs. Uvalde Lindsey; Boone Circuit Clerk Jeannie Steen; Sen. Randy

Laverty. Note the governors’ names woven into the carpeting ascending the stairs from the great-room.

Madison County Clerk Faron Ledbetter and Circuit Clerk Phyllis Villines visit with Attorney General Dustin McDaniel (right).

Capitol Profile

In his richly-appointed office at the Capitol, Auditor Jim Wood shows a coffee table John Deere book featuring, on facing pages, two John Deeres like those he used during his tenure as a full-time farmer.

Arkansas’s Auditor of State Jim Wood Balances

Politics, Farming, Life & Love

By Randy M. Kemp County Lines Editor

It’s 100 miles from Little Rock to Tupelo in Jackson County, between Augusta and Newport, with its rich Delta soil. Auditor of State Jim Wood was born there in 1948, and he knows every one of those miles well. Though best remembered for his role in state politics since 1978, it’s the call of the farm that he’s hearing loudest once more.

“I farmed 35 crops before I was elected Auditor and my wife and I moved to Little Rock,” he says with pride. “A real farmer will tell you how long he farmed in crops, not in years,” he adds with a smile. He continued to farm for two years after his election to state constitutional office in 2004, but it was just too complicated. “I sold my equipment and leased it out. I still miss it every day!” He owns 640 acres, but with what he leased, he farmed about 3,000 acres.

Wood’s first public office was a two-year stint as a Woodruff County justice of the peace. “So, I have a real empathy for county government,” he said. From there, he stepped straight into the Arkansas Senate seat vacated by Bob Harvey. He defeated six opponents to become Sen. Wood, a title he kept for a decade before losing an election. He sat out for eight years, and after reapportionment changed his district, he ran for House of Representatives, where he served 1996 to 2002 until turned out by term limits.

In between, in 1986, he ran a close race for 1st District U.S. Congress, his 48.5 percent just missing the mark. “I started that race late, and ran on a shoestring budget. But we worked very hard. That was before fax machines and cell phones. It certainly made life interesting trying to run a Congressional race across 26 counties that way, with very little help and very little money!”

After serving in the House, “I was enjoying public service and felt I had a lot to give and could still be doing some good. There were two statewide offices without incumbent candidates, and with my business background, I felt this office would be a good fit for me.” The other office was Commissioner of Lands.

Now, he notes ruefully, “term limits have caught up with me again.” He says this year will complete his political career; he’s going to retire and turn his attention back to the farm – and to the couple’s four grandkids. “I’ll never farm again, because of the expense. I had sold all my equipment and tools and leased it out, but I do want to go back and spend more time driving on the farm, monitoring what they’re doing, and volunteer to help a few days a week.” But his wife of 42 years, Ann, has become comfortably settled in their North Little Rock home, where they moved when Jim was elected Auditor. They’ll stay put rather than move back, he said.

Wood respects voters’ wishes in mandating term limits for state and local offices, but he said that “on balance, they’re not a good thing, because you lose so much institutional memory and knowledge. Without experience, you can’t be effective. There is a real sharp learning curve here, you have to really hit the ground running. It’s not really fair to the public that we lose that institutional memory, but the people voted for it, and it’s what we’ve got. There are many people who served so many years and who understand the budget process so well, and they are forced out of office and replaced by people who couldn’t find the bathroom the first day.

The flip side is, you do get fresh ideas. The leadership shifts so often; a third of the House and about a fourth of the Senate are turning over every two years.

Auditor Wood can’t talk too long without bringing Ann into the story. “I met her in high school,” he says with a smile. “We had our first date on my 17th birthday; we went to Augusta Beach,” a White River sandbar. After they mar-

ried, Ann stayed home and raised their two children in the early days, and always helped Jim on the farm. “She was a good truck driver. I drove the combine and had her drive the grain to the elevator for me, so I bought her a brand new bob-truck, with power steering and a radio!” She went to work at the local school for a number of years, but “I really needed her help at home; she was gracious to quit and help me on the farm again. She has really been a rock to me all these years.”

He is proud of his service over the years, and proud of being able to help people. A high point was his work on behalf of strengthening animal cruelty laws while in the legislature, he said.

What guides this legislator-gentleman farmer? “In my personal life, one thing I’ve tried to live by is just to be fair with people, put yourself in their shoes. When you do that, you’ll get a different perspective sometimes from what you started out with.” In politics: “Don’t do or say anything that you don’t want to read in the paper. It took me a long time and a lot of embarrassment to figure that out … that you don’t have to answer every question that you are asked, and you don’t have to comment on everything that happens. Politically, you can say one thing off the cuff, or as a joke, that can cost you your career.”

When it comes to running his office, “I am involved, but I let the departments take care of themselves unless there is a problem. I’m real big on letting people that know how to do their jobs, do it. I have to rely on people with years and years of experience. I monitor, but I try not to micro-manage.” Like the typical farmer, he never really developed hobbies, mostly because of time constraints. “I used to hunt, but 1) I got too lazy; hunting’s hard work! And 2) I got interested in animal welfare issues. I don’t have anything against those who do hunt, but life is just precious to me, whether it is another human being, or a deer.” Jim does still have a thirst for knowledge, however. “I watch quite a bit of TV – I love the History Channel; I’m big on educational TV.”

He is a lifelong member of the Church of Christ, but as for civic organizations, he said he just never really had time for those commitments. He admits he’s also not a travel buff. “I don’t ever want to spend the night away from home if I don’t have to. No bed sleeps like my own!”

He and Ann plan to visit a son’s family in North Carolina once or twice a year, but other than that, Jim’s only travel plans are to get reacquainted with the farm roads in his old Jackson County neighborhood.

Arkansas Auditor of State

• The Auditor of State is one of seven constitutional officers in Arkansas. Other constitutional officers are the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer, Attorney General, Secretary of State and Land Commissioner. • The Auditor acts as the general accountant for the State, keeping track of all fund and appropriation balances of all state agencies, and writing the warrants (checks) in payment of the liabilities of the State. • The Auditor is disbursing officer for certain federal funds, for approximately 1,000 individuals including Supreme and Appellate Justices, Circuit and Chancery Judges, Prosecuting and Special Prosecuting Attorneys, Court Reporters, Trial Court Administrative Assistants, the House of Representatives, the Senate, county Juvenile Probate and Intake Officers and Continuing Education Funds for County and Circuit Clerks, Treasurers and Collectors. • The Auditor is a member of the State Board of Finance and, by statute, is the administrator of the Unclaimed Property Act. He serves on the Commercial Mobile Radio Services/Emergency Telephone Services Board and as an ex-officio board member of the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System and the Arkansas Teachers Retirement System. The Auditor serves on the Boards of Continuing Education for County and Circuit Clerks, County Treasurers and County Collectors, and administers their continuing education program.

Administration This division coordinates all other divisions and oversees the official duties of the office. It handles research, personnel, purchasing, and special projects including legislation.

Data Processing Division This division physically prints all the warrants (checks) issued by the state, maintains each state agency’s daily balance, and makes sure each agency appropriation has a sufficient balance before the warrants are released. It produces the warrant register and microfilms cashed warrants.

Handwritten records in this division begin October 1, 1838. From that date through December 31, 1839, 146 warrants were issued in the new State of Arkansas. An IBM AS400 System (a mid- range, main frame computer) is now used and it produces approximately 3 million warrants totaling over $11 billion per year.

Warrant Division This division processes all warrants produced by the Data Processing Division. It is responsible for mailing or releasing the warrants to the state agencies.

Accounting Division This division maintains financial records for the offices of the Auditor of State and the Lt. Governor and handles the disbursement of over $46 million to those groups under the disbursement responsibility of the Auditor. As a part of its disbursing responsibility, this division handles all insurance, retirement, payroll deductions and related reports for the various groups.

Unclaimed Property Division Unclaimed Property is intangible personal property (cash, stocks, bonds, oil and gas royalties, credit balances) or safe deposit box contents not delivered to or received by the apparent owner within the time prescribed by the Unclaimed Property Act.

On November 1 of each year, holders with unclaimed property must file a report with the Auditor of State and remit all property outstanding for one to five years on their books as of June 30 of that year. The Auditor then has three years in which to attempt to locate the rightful owner before the funds are deposited into the State General Fund where they continue to be held for the benefit of the rightful owner.

Annually, a list of the currently reported owners of unclaimed property is published as “The Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt”.