JP Coger's Washington County UPdate 10/12/2025
- Beth Coger
- Oct 12
- 5 min read
🟧 JP COGER’S WASHINGTON COUNTY UPDATE
Week of October 12, 2025 Transparency • Accountability • Fiscal Responsibility
🟠 THINGS TO KNOW
➡️ Quorum Court Meeting: Thursday, October 16, 6:00 p.m. Washington County Courthouse — 280 N College Ave, Fayetteville 📺 Livestream available on the county’s YouTube channel
➡️ Public Comment On Any County Related Topic:15 minutes total at the beginning of the meeting (Agenda Item 5) (3 minutes per person) and 12 minutes before a vote on any ordinance or resolution. If you intend to speak during this public comment time, it's best to stand and get in line as soon as the judge calls it.
See the complete Agenda
Agenda Highlights & Concerns:
Item 8. ORDINANCE TRANSFERRING $665,500 FROM VARIOUS BUDGETS TO FUND THE NEW FUEL ISLAND. On its second reading. Learn more here.
Item 9. ORDINANCE RATIFYING CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT (“CUP”) FOR RIVERCREST ORCHARD, 2929 S. Dead Hose (sic) Road WC 55, Fayetteville, AR 72701. [CUP Application]
Item 10. ORDINANCE RATIFYING CUP FOR HMONG COMMUNITY EVENT CENTER, 24283 N Hwy 244, Summers, AR 72769. [CUP Application]
Item 11. ORDINANCE RATIFYING CUP FOR URBAN STEEL, 705 E. Monitor Road WC 91, Springdale, AR 72764. [CUP Application]
Item 12. ORDINANCE RATIFYING CUP FOR SILVER LINING BAL
LOONING 13784 Hogeye Rd WC 28, Prairie Grove, AR 72753. [CUP Application]
The above CUPs all passed out of the Planning Board with a 4 - 0 vote.
Item 13. An ORDINANCE TO INCREASE THE PAY FOR MEMBERS OF THE PLANNING BOARD. This ordinance, sponsored by JP Massingill will increase the pay of Planning Board members from $75.00 per meeting to $300.00 per meeting. 💡 Why it matters: Board compensation can impact recruitment and participation. Expect discussion on fiscal impact and precedent for other county boards. On its first reading
Item 14. An ORDINANCE APPROPRIATING $506,469.12 FROM THE GENERAL RESERVE FUND (1001) TO THE CAP BUDGET (1000.1492) FOR 2025. Note: The ordinance in the agenda does not reflect amendments that were made during the Finance & Budget meeting. Here’s the discussion on that:
Starting in video at 2:40:14 “...second whereas to read Washington County began partnering with Returning Home, Inc. in 2022 through April 30th, 2026
2:40:27 to provide an alternative to incarceration within the county and changing the third whereas to read due 2:40:33 to the success of returning homes cap program, the county desires to continue its partnership through April 30th, 2027.”
🟢 SPOTLIGHT: CAP FUNDING — WHERE SHOULD OUR DOLLARS GO?
At this week’s meeting, the Quorum Court will consider continued funding for the Community Alternative Program (CAP) operated by Returning Home, Inc.
I want to share a few key facts:
Washington County has already given Returning Home $1,634,400 through Ordinance 2022-101, passed in October 2022.
That ordinance funds Returning Home through April 30, 2026 - that's actually what the ordinance says.
We have not received an accounting of those funds.
Since receiving those funds, Returning Home has purchased three tracts of property in Madison County totaling $1.11 million. Tract 1 paid $650,000 2/20/23. Tract 2 paid $250,000 4/15/25. Tract 3 paid $210,000 2/27/25.
CAP is a 32-bed men-only program that served just 79 people last year, while our average daily jail population exceeds 750.
By contrast, a Pretrial Services program could serve 1,400–1,900 people per year, men and women alike, for roughly the same cost — helping families stay stable and saving taxpayer dollars by keeping people out of jail pretrial.
The 2020 Criminal Justice Assessment Study, which Washington County paid $70,000 for, made it clear:
“Washington County is sorely lacking in pretrial services and is utilizing incarceration to manage pretrial defendants rather than community services.”
I believe it’s time to invest in front-end solutions that reduce jail overcrowding and create fairer, more cost-effective outcomes for everyone.
📢 Call to Action: If you care about transparency, fiscal responsibility, and humane justice, please show up or write to the Quorum Court. Your voice matters.
Let’s recap last week’s meetings:
➽ Watch last week’s Special Planning Board meeting here.
➽ Watch last week’s Finance & Budget meeting here.
🔵 DETENTION CENTER SNAPSHOT
Incarcerated People as of 12/11/25: 728
Listed as “homeless”: 88
For more detailed information, here is the Detainee Summary and the Inmate Population Analysis 9/30/25.
Here’s the link to the Detailed Charge Report: https://www.washingtoncountyar.gov/government/departments-f-z/sheriff/detention-information/detainee-charge-report
You can check the “Calls for Service” board here.
Here’s a list in alphabetical order to search for people.
County Bid Postings (as of 10/12/25)
Bid 2025-12 Services for the Women’s Community Rebuilding Initiative. Bids are due: 10/13/25 by 4:00 PM. Proposals will be opened 10/14/25 at 9:00 AM. Washington County is being sued because it did not go through proper procurement procedures on the Men’s CRI. Read about it here.
The county has already started renovations to the building that will house the Women's CRI, including replacing heating and cooling units and vents and more. The county is getting regular, even weekly updates on what it refers to as "WC 100 N College Jail Renovation," from Paragon Architecture, but none of those have been shared with the quorum court. I hope to have more on that next week.
Bid 2025-14 RFP for “Rebid” of Fuel Island System. Bids are due 10/20/25 at 4:00 PM. Opening date is 10/21/25. For more information, contact Jarrod London purchasing@washingtoncountyar.gov. This includes Diesel/Fuel Pumps & Injectors; Fuel Management System and Fuel/Petroleum Equipment.
You can view the closed bids here.
View all RFQs and bids [here].
County Job Openings (as of 10/5/25).
The Road Superintendent position is still open. Here is more information on that. No official announcement has been made to the quorum court about this job vacancy.
Full Time | Open Until Filled | $21.91 / HR | |
Temporary | Open Until Filled | 14/Hr | |
Full Time | Open Until Filled | $16 - $17.62 | |
Full Time | Open Until Filled | $21.25 - $23.42/hr | |
Full Time | Open Until Filled | $102648.00-$113152.00 |
Below is the link for all posted job openings in Washington County. The road department and sheriff’s offices are almost always hiring. The road department is 479-444-1610. The sheriff’s office is 479-444-5700.
⚫ FINAL THOUGHT
Transparency isn’t just about access to information — it’s about using that information to make better decisions for our residents. As always, thank you for staying informed and engaged.
—Beth Coger Washington County Justice of the Peace, District 9 📧 ejcoger@gmail.com | 💻 bethcoger.com
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