From the Director’s Desk

County Lines

County Lines [(ISSN 2576-1137 (print) and ISSN 2576-1145 (online)] is the official publication of the AAC. It is published quarterly. For advertising inquiries, subscriptions or other information, please contact Christy L. Smith at 501.372.7550.

Executive Director/Publisher Chris Villines Communications Director/ Managing Editor Christy L. Smith Communications Coordinator/ Editor Caitlin Brown

AAC Executive Board:

Debbie Wise – President

Brandon Ellison – Vice President

Jimmy Hart – Secretary-Treasurer Tommy Young Deanna Sivley Debra Buckner Dana Baker Kevin Cleghorn Terry McNatt Debbie Cross Brenda DeShields Ellen Foote Doug Curtis Gerone Hobbs Marty Boyd John Montgomery Heather Stevens Randy Higgins

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. David Hudson: Vice-Chair of Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee. He is Sebastian Co. Judge and member of Rural Action Caucus Steering

Committee and IT Standing Committee. 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 Joseph Wood: Community, Economic and

Workforce Development Steering Committee. He is Washington 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: 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 Crittenden

County Chief Computer Operator.

Conference, retirements and a legislative session are to come

In early July you find our staff feverishly preparing for the AAC annual conference. As we put together speakers and events we constantly communicate about what we believe will bring you the best pro- Chris Villines gramming in a short amount of time. For many years when I AAC was the Tax Collector in Saline County, I circled these August Executive Director dates as a period of time I could get away from the office, reconnect with all of my friends, and enjoy presentations that made me a better collector at home.

Many of you, like me, have circled these dates in 2022 and our registration numbers are climbing yet again. Another record year for attendance could be in the making — and Hot Springs is a wonderful venue that everyone seems to enjoy.

I say all this to tell you, it is not too late if you have not yet registered. At the time of magazine printing there may still be time to register and get a room, but hotel space is quickly filling up and this fact may push you to an off-site hotel. Please let us know if you need any help. •••

It’s always bittersweet to say farewell in retirement to people we’ve worked closely with, but two such people have recently decided to enjoy their time after county government.

You know both of them well, and I’d like to take this time to wish Fran Walker with Nationwide Retirement Solutions and our own Becky Comet a wonderful future as they ease into the next stage of life.

Becky joined the AAC 10 years ago on the heels of being a finalist on “The Biggest Loser” television show. What many of you may not know is that Becky lived next door to my family on Lynnwood Drive in Benton. We had known her for some time and call the Comet family friends. Her daughter, Samantha, even watched our children a few times.

Becky brought us a great smile and pleasant attitude. She did a wonderful job setting up our membership benefits program — and many of you have enjoyed the fruits of this labor in the form of discounts at stores or theme parks put together for county employees in Arkansas. Becky also worked closely with many of our jail staffs to put together a program for utilization of Guardian RFID equipment in our jails. We have no doubt saved lives and avoided lawsuits because of the implementation of this great Risk Management benefit tool provided free to all member counties, made better by Becky’s hard work.

Fran has roamed through many of your courthouses encouraging you to join Nationwide Retirement Solutions programs. And she has always done so with a caring demeanor. She cares that you are taken care of in retirement, and it shows. It is exciting to see such a wonderful ambassador for this program now enjoying her own retirement and living the dream she has preached to all of us will one day come.

For 14 years Fran has been working with counties of Arkansas, and I’d have to say almost every one of our county officials has developed a relationship with Fran during that time. She has helped so many people begin the

process of setting aside some money for the eventuality of retirement, and her knowledge of the 457(b)(3) program is simply superior.

Thank you both to Becky and Fran as you enter many years of blessed retirement — we wish you the absolute best.

A legislative session is on the horizon. And I’m not talking about what will (hopefully) prove to be a short special session in August. In January the 94th General Assembly will convene in Little Rock, with many new faces leading the legislative effort.

In our own ranks we will also have many new faces as we will see unprecedented turnover in the county ranks. This was expected to happen considering the first cycle of fouryear terms is now concluding. I’ll share more on an expanded New-Elects training in a future column but suffice it to say our collective work is in front of us to bring many new officials up to speed.

A lot of work will be done by our member associations between now and January, and I appreciate all of you working so hard within your associations and with your AAC liaisons to prepare legislative packages to be presented on behalf of county government. We are extremely successful with our legislative package each session because it is well thought out and vetted between all associations through the AAC legislative committee process.

A special thanks to Craighead County Treasurer Terry McNatt, who sits as the chair of our legislative committee and for his leadership of that group through this process. We anticipate finalizing our package in late October and presenting it to key legislators and constitutional officers beginning in December. The legislature will follow a very specific calendar, with some of the key dates as follows:

• Nov. 15, 2022 – pre-filing bills and resolutions begins • Jan. 9, 2023 – the regular session will convene • Jan. 23, 2023 – deadline to file retirement legislation • Feb. 8, 2023 – deadline to file constitutional amendments • Feb. 27, 2023 – deadline to file appropriation bills

I encourage all of you who don’t have a relationship with any of your legislators to make that happen now. Once the session begins it is too late to introduce yourself. You are trusted experts in your field, and it is vitally important that they know how to contact you and vice-versa.

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