AAC
RESEARCH CORNER
The AAC law clerk program: moving county government forward and developing attorneys
T
he Association of Arkansas Counties (AAC) provides information and advice to Arkansas’ 75 counties. The advice addresses inquiries as to the interpretation and application of laws and the navigation of legal challenges. AAC also lobbies the Arkansas General Assembly and Governor to adopt laws and funding necessary for more effective county government. As per Ark. Code § 14-20-107, the mission of AAC is to continually study ways and means to improve county government in Arkansas. In 2010, AAC Executive Director Chris Villines conceived and launched the AAC law clerk program. The program started with two law clerks, but it has now grown to five. The clerks have been helpful, both internally at AAC and for county officials. The program also is beneficial for the clerks because they receive broad base experience in county and state government. In their work, clerks are exposed to the legislative process, to litigation, and in the interpretation and application of laws, regulations and best practices. These developing law students are then able to discover where their passions and talents lie. Several former clerks have chosen to move into careers in county and state government. A law clerks’ main role is to provide legal research. Clerks are law students who work at AAC part time while attending law school. The work allows them to put their developing research skills into practice. Law clerks have been instrumental in researching numerous projects at AAC, including those related to elections laws, ambulance services, floodplain management, jail overcrowding, 911 emergency dispatch centers, fine collection, county special funds, legislative audit matters, and the day-today operations of county government. AAC law clerks have researched a litany of laws, identified issues and helped chart the legal options for decision-makers in county government. AAC hired Lindsey Bailey, who now serves as legal counsel, as a law clerk after her first year of law school. While a clerk, she helped prepare motions and briefs. She even presented an oral argument at a circuit court hearing as a Rule 15 certified law student. She also worked various subrogation cases for the AAC Risk Management Fund (AACRMF) seeking damages from wrongdoers. Impressively, she also acted as lead counsel in a jury trial while she had just recently passed the bar exam. She recently reflected on her experience. “Ultimately, I found that my passion was not with litigation or preparing court documents, but with the policy advocacy and education that the AAC offered. I enjoyed preparing educaCOUNTY LINES, WINTER 2018
tional guidance and seminars for county officials, such as updating the County Fine Collection Guidebook, Jessica Fontenot and organizing a seminar to instruct AAC Law Clerk county officials on new, innovative ways to collect outstanding fines owed to the county and optimize their collections,” she said. “Another experience I enjoyed that few law clerks get the chance to practice was presenting a bill and testifying before legislative committees in order to help county government operate more efficiently. After discovering that county official education and policy advocacy was my passion, I was fortunate enough that the AAC Executive Director Chris Villines and my supervising attorney, Mark Whitmore, AAC Chief Counsel, believed in me enough to let me work on policy issues full time. Since then I have worked closely with the Arkansas Association of Quorum Courts, the Arkansas Assessors Association, and the Arkansas County Clerks Association, ensuring that their county office policies and implementations are as efficient, uniform, and fair as possible. I still enjoy that I learn something new every day, and that no two days are the same — county government is always evolving. Thanks to the law clerk program, I get to be a part of that.” AACRMF offers three separate lines of self-insurance coverage: property, auto and general liability. Under each of the separate self-insurance agreements, RMF provides the appropriate legal assistance, both as a matter of defending claims against member counties and subrogating claims to recover losses suffered by the county or by RMF. Additionally, RMF provides a number of member benefits, including codification of ordinances. Brandy McAllister serves as in-house counsel for AACRMF, but she started with AAC as a law clerk. Through that time and into the present, McAllister has worked on the codification of ordinances. Now, while she heads up legal issues for RMF, she also oversees two law clerks who aide the codification process by keeping a database of county ordinances up to date, as well as by typing ordinances into a format that is usable for the codification program. Their time spent helps to keep the codification program in constant motion. Additionally, they assist adjusters on restitution requests when applicable and provide legal research to general county questions See
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