Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Quorum Court Divided

Clark County's Quorum Court was slightly divided Monday, Dec. 13 as it met for the first time in the new court complex.

After a presentation, Justices, Larry Thomerson, Juanita Dot' Currey, Jim Hatley, Dick Batson and Bill Mooreman all voted no on Ordinance 99-22.

With five of 11 justices voting not to pass the ordinance to establish new rules of procedure, it was read before the court.

The points of disagreement are: who picks the justices for the committees, who has the power to call a special meeting, and the finance committees power over creating a budget with or without the county judge.

"We really need to work with the finance committee from the start," commented Clark County Judge Floyd Buddy' Manning when asked about the issue at a later date.

Justice Bill Conine commented to presenter, Jim Baker "Some think, we're trying to strip the county judge's powers."

Baker of the Association of Arkansas Counties brought in a sample ordinance covering this issue. In his presentation Baker conveyed two ideas namely as long as the court passed no law contrary to the state laws and follows Robert's Rules of Order' in their meetings, to paraphrase it's their own mess.'

Even issues such as limiting the court to discussion covering only the items on the agenda for special or regular meetings. "It's home rule..." commented Baker, who gracefully stayed away from any hint of partisanship.

When asked if it could be read to the court, Manning commented "It must be read three times before the court."

The court will most likely hear the second reading at the next Quorum Court meeting.

Mack and Reynolds Appraisal of Glenwood has been awarded the bid of $504,000 to reappraise the lands of Clark County. With 23,000 parcels of land at an estimated $21 per parcel for reappraisal, Clark County will be reimbursed approximately $7 per parcel from federal monies. The county will pay half the cost over a the two year period it will take to reappraise the lands.

The collection of the delinquent real estate taxes will be changed for next year. Currently, the delinquent land taxes are handled by the Clark County Treasurer's office, Judy Beth Hutcherson, for one week before being turned over to the collectors office.

Real estate taxes will be immediately placed into the hands of the tax collectors office once they have been deemed delinquent, instead of spending a week on the books in the treasurers office.

In the judge's report, many small issues were covered.

The lawsuit mentioned at the previous meeting concerning a neighbor conflict into which the county was drawn, was dismissed.

The attic of the newly renovated Clark County Courthouse will soon serve as storage space for the county's collection of law books currently stored in Little Rock and other sundry items.

Construction at the old municipal court is in process. One hallway is being converted into two interrogation rooms and providing space for evidence storage.

Recently, two pipes burst at the Clark County Extension offices on Clay street.

On January 3, 2000 the C.C. Ext. offices will be moved across the street to the offices that once housed the Department of Human Resources. The renovation will be slow and careful to prevent any disturbance of the tiles on the floor which contain asbestos.

The finance committee meet the Tuesday morning after the Quorum Court to discuss $30,000 that may be going to the Arkadelphia 2025 Commission, along with the cost of the reappraisal. They will be meeting again Wednesday, Dec. 22 at 9:00 a.m. to finalize the county budget.