Hempstead County Quorum Court
The Hempstead County Quorum Court met Thursday (8-24) for their August meeting After the invocation and the pledge, the minutes were approved. The first ordinance (2023-9) was to appropriate funds from the LATC grant received. A sum of $100,000 was appropriated to be used on the roads. A motion was made which was seconded and passed.
The resolution 2023-3 authorized the Circuit Clerk to apply for a grant from the Arkansas Circuit Clerks Association CRCR funds. This money will simply be used to update the equipment. A motion was made which was seconded and passed.
Ordinance 2023-10 to appropriate funds from ARPA to ARP revenue replacement funds for the jail was considerred. The amount was $50,000 for plumbing and electrical. The plumbing is pretty much gone where the inmates are. No contractor will be available until January. The current storm drain would be dug up, connections replaced and trash cleaned up. It would cost $23,000 – $40,000 for the initial fix. The fixing of the jail may require the clearing out of the inmates and this would be quite expensive. It would take approximately 14 days or less to fix. The jail also has a foundation problem and will ultimately need to be replaced but this fix will work for 5-6 years. The jail is 30 years old and has about reached its limit according both JP Atchley and Sherrif Singleton. JP Cherry Stewart asked why spend money on an old building. The idea was floated to either put on the plumbing on top or work with other counties to create a regional jail. The response was that other counties have new jails and so are not in need of a replacement jail. This fix would buy the county some time as a new jail would cost $10,000,000 to build. The county doesn’t have the same backup it used to. Almost all the inmates have felonies and are awaiting trial and quickly transferred to the state. There was a motion to accept the ordinance, which was seconded and passed.
In other business there were two 4-H members present out of three who had won first place at State 4-H O-Rama in Interior Design. The three individuals are Mary Martinez, Madison Comer, and Madelyn Townsend. Martinez and Comer addressed the JP’s. The design was taken to U of A at Fayetteville. The team made a 3-D model coffee shop. It was a fictional scenario, took two weeks to design and had a $5,000 fictional budget. Betty Wingfield, Hempstead County Extension Agent 4-H was the lead agent for the competition. In her words, she started the group off and they ran with the project. Extension Staff Chairma Terrie James was commended for her leadership with the project. JP Stewart stated she wished she still had chairs so the students could design them.
James talked about an upcoming project designed to create awareness of challenges individuals have in reintegrating after being incarcerated. It is a simulation in which requires a minimum of 20 volunteers and 25 participants total. The Arkansas reintegration simulation uses four 15-minute weeks to model one month in the life of an adult who recently left prison. Many people have already signed up to participate in the activity.
The question was brought up about the next quorum court meeting if it should be a week earlier as the rodeo is the same day, or it should be an abbreviated court. Since one of the JPs cannot attend the prior week, the decision was made for a shorter meeting.
The meeting adjourned.