Opinion: Saline County Quorum Court Begins New Term

This new year brings to Saline County a new Quorum Court term with 4 new Justices of the Peace: Wilson Hatcher representing District 2, Keith Kellum representing District 4, Stephanie Johnson representing District 12, and Karen Crowson representing District 13. The first meeting of the year, which took place on January 6, began with all 13 Justices of the Peace being sworn into office. The swearing in began at 5:30pm with the Committee meeting beginning at 6:30. We each took an oath to uphold the US Constitution as well as the Arkansas Constitution.

The first item on our agenda was the Quorum Court Organizational Ordinance, which set forth the rules and procedures that would be followed for each meeting. I was opposed to three changes. The first was a meeting time change. The Quorum Court meetings had always been held at 6:30 PM but will now be held at 6:00 PM. I was opposed to this because I thought the time change would present a challenge to many members of the public to attend our meetings since so many get off work at 5:00 and have traffic to contend with getting back home then to the meeting. The second item I was opposed to for this ordinance was limiting public comment during meetings to items specifically on the agenda. This practice was put into place last year, but no ordinance was passed amending the rules. The Court decided to limit public comment to agenda items around mid-2024, but the change will now be formally made because of this ordinance. I am unaware of any prior limitation on public comment, except for a 3-minute time limit. It is sad that our elected officials are now unwilling to listen to their constituents’ concerns which might be beyond the scope of a specific ordinance. The third and final issue that I was opposed to in this ordinance is the way items for consideration are to be brought up. Article 4 of this ordinance begins by stating “All items to be considered by the Quorum Court at the regular monthly meeting may be submitted in writing to county judge or his or her designees.” Anyone familiar with Robert’s Rules of Order knows the correct parliamentary procedure would be to bring items for consideration during the New Business section of the meetings. I was told by another Justice of the Peace during the meeting that this was part of the ordinance to “streamline” the process for introducing agenda items to be voted on. View that however you want, but I stand by the procedure outlined in Robert’s Rules of Order. Articles 7 and 8 of this ordinance list out the Standing Committees of the Court and the number of members of each. The Finance and Public Works and Safety Committees each have 13 members, or all Justices of the Peace, and the Human Resources Committee has 7 members, each appointed by the County Judge. Article 7 further lists the duties and responsibilities of each Committee and lists the items of concern for each Committee. So, given all this information, the process already seems pretty “streamlined” to me, especially considering the Finance and Public Works and Safety Committees both meet at the same time, the first Monday of each month. If there was a Human Resource issue to be addressed, this Committee would also meet the first Monday of the month. If the Quorum Court is limited to debate only those items acceptable to the County Judge, that stifles our role as a legislative body, and we are ceding power unnecessarily to the County Judge who is the head of the Executive branch of government for the county. If you’re wondering what the vote was for this ordinance, it was 11-1 with me being the only “no” vote based on the three issues I outlined above. (Justice Jim Whitley was absent from the meeting.)

The other item on the agenda for the Committee meeting was an Appropriation ordinance to amend the 2024 Saline County Budget Ordinance No. 2023-30. The 2025 budget was passed at the regular meeting in December 2024; this ordinance was for the purpose of amending that budget.

This is my first time holding public office, and admittedly, I have much to learn. I will work hard to represent the people of my district, not other elected officials or special interests. It is my hope that the people of Saline County will get involved and attend Quorum Court meetings and make your voices heard about the issues important to you. Remember that we work for YOU. Please hold us accountable.