An ordinance the Garland County Quorum Court adopted during its first meeting of the 2019-20 term earlier this week enshrined rules of procedure for the legislative body, satisfying a statutory mandate that had gone unheeded in previous terms.
The 16-article ordinance established meeting times, committee structures and protocols for voting on motions and action items. County Judge Darryl Mahoney said the rules are not a substantial departure from how previous quorum courts operated, but incorporating them into the county code enables compliance with the state's local government code and provides a primer for new justices of the peace uninitiated to the process.
The state code mandates quorum courts enumerate rules of procedure through an organizational ordinance adopted during the first regular meeting of the term. The county said its ordinance was modeled after the Association of Arkansas Counties' procedural guide for quorum court meetings.
Garland County's ordinance allows a majority of JPs to amend procedure at any time.
"It's certainly necessary to have a procedure," County Attorney John Howard told JPs. "It's not necessary that it be this procedure."
The rules enshrined the quorum court's previous procedure for adopting ordinances by a roll-call vote and using voice votes to advance motions, but resolutions can now be adopted by voice vote. The county clerk will call JPs by lowest-to-highest district number on roll call votes. Some JPs asked if the order could alternate, but Mahoney advised against it.
"(Howard) and I had some discussion about calling the roll in a different manner, but it could get quite confusing," he said.
Three readings will continue to be required for the adoption of ordinances, with a two-thirds majority needed to suspend rules that require the readings be held over the course of three separate meetings.
County officials said requiring agenda items to be forwarded to JPs five days in advance of committee meetings is one of the biggest changes under the new ordinance.
Mahoney told a local civic organization earlier this month that he hoped the ordinance eased the learning curve for new JPs, of which there are four in the current term. The 2019-20 term marks the second consecutive cycle with only one woman on the 13-member panel.
"When I first took office in the mid-2000s, it took me two years to figure out what was going on in some of these meetings," said Mahoney, who served multiple terms as District 12 JP before becoming county executive at the first of the year. "We've put all that in writing and mailed out the duties and responsibilities of JPs. You can't change the world from that position, but you can tie the purse strings of the people you're trying to get to change."
The quorum court is the county's budgeting and appropriating authority. It also sets county employee policy and can implement measures not prohibited by federal or state law affecting the health, welfare and safety of county residents.
The quorum court approved the following committee assignments:
Finance
Matt McKee, R-District 9, (chair)
Jason Braziel, R-District 8, (vice chair)
John Horner, R-District 5
Thomas Anderson, D-District 2
Ray Owen Jr., D-District 6
Ronald (Nub) Hunter, R-District 11
Larry Raney, R-District 13
Human Resources
Thomas Anderson (chair)
David Reagan, D-District 2, (vice chair)
Larry Raney
Ray Owen Jr.
John Horner
Richard McGrew, R-District 12
John Faulkner, R-District 7
Environmental Services/Public Buildings and Works
John Horner (chair)
John Faulkner (vice chair)
Ronald (Nub) Hunter
Esther Dixon, D-District 3
David Reagan
Jimmy Sorrells, R-District 10
Public Health, Welfare and Safety
Larry Raney (chair)
Jimmy Young, R-District 4, (vice chair)
Matt McKee
Jason Braziel
Esther Dixon
Jimmy Sorrells
Thomas Anderson
Ordinance
Ray Owen Jr. (chair)
Richard McGrew (vice chair)
Esther Dixon
Jimmy Young
Ronald (Nub) Hunter
Jason Braziel
David Reagan
Local on 01/20/2019