WHAT IS GOING ON?
If you know people who would like to be added to this newsletter’s mailing list, please let me know at: ejcoger@gmail.com or text me their email address at 479-306-9994. Thank you to all my subscribers!
Please continue to contact your JP and all JPs and ask that they restore the twelve minute public comment period before we vote on any ordinance or resolution in all committee meetings.
Here’s more on that from an earlier newsletter to give you background: https://www.bethcoger.com/post/jp-coger-s-washington-county-update-2-9-25.
When community members make the effort to come to our meetings and want to speak to us, sacrificing family time and peace, they should always be heard.
Listening to the community before we make decisions is essential to good governance. How can we know the impact of our vote and the concerns of the community members if they aren’t allowed to tell us. Not letting the public speak is rude and disrespectful and, in my opinion, unlawful.
Standing up for our rights can be exhausting, but it is a powerful testament to our collective strength and the enduring pursuit of "justice for all."
In my work at Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition, a nonprofit which I cofunded in 2019 along with Sarah Moore, we assist people and help them navigate through the criminal justice system. AJRC is very active in the community and does tremendous community outreach such as offering free attorney services for people with certain misdemeanor charges in our local district courts, free record sealing and expungement of records, connecting people to resources, and more.
We had community members calling the AJRC office on Monday last week asking if the courthouse would be opened the following day. They were worried they might not be able to make it because of the roads. They were worried. In my capacity as JP, I emailed the judge and communications director this email inquiring as to whether or not the courthouse would be opened Tuesday and if they could let me know when a decision was made. I did not think it was an unreasonable request.
Here’s the official response from your county judge and copied to the communications director.
Mark your calendars: The next County Services Committee meeting is Monday, March 3, 2025, 6:00 PM, Washington County Courthouse. The zoning ordinance and map will be up for discussion.
ZONING ORDINANCE & MAP:
You can read the most recent version (to my knowledge) of the zoning ordinance here. The latest zoning map is here.
ONE WASHINGTON COUNTY MEETING FOR THIS WEEK 2/23/25 (as of 2/22/25 3:30 PM)
🌟WASHINGTON COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSION MEETS Tuesday, 2/25/25, 9:00 AM, Washington County Road Department, 2615 S. Brink Drive, Fayetteville. Meetings are live-streamed on the County Election Commission’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpX-GrzfCvEF0PszfEr6V3Q
(This meeting was postponed from last week due to weather)
The agenda includes: Approval of prior minutes; legislative request (interesting); legislative update (always interesting); new building update and other business.
MEETINGS TO WATCH FROM LAST WEEK
Washington County Quorum Court regular monthly meeting 2/20/25 can be viewed here.
Here's my brief summary of the meeting. You should watch the full video to get the complete picture because a lot happened. The court approved four Conditional Use Permits that passed on their first reading.
Discussion on funding the Community Rebuilding Initiative (“CRI”) starts at 14:33 in the video. This is the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program (RSAT), of which $355,455.74 was a grant from the state Department of Finance & Administration. The same ordinance also appropriated $575,000 from the General Reserve Fund to Other Professional Services to fund the program for one year.
I was in favor of accepting the grant, of course, and wanted us to use that as a pilot program to see if it would be successful and a good investment. Here’s why I voted no.
I would have supported the ordinance if it contained only the grant amount. The county paid $70,000 in 2019 for an independent study by the National Center of State Courts. That study is known as the “Criminal Justice Assessment Study” (CJAS) and it is very specific about what we must do if we want to decrease our high incarceration rate and address the root causes of our jail overcrowding.
You may read the entire report here CJAS. A much better use of the $575,000 would have been to hire additional attorneys for the WC Public Defender’s Office (we could hire three for $324,000) or establish a real pretrial services program at around $500,000 for one year.
My comments start at 17:51 in the video. I asked the judge to reinstate the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee and he said no. As I had the floor and was speaking, I was interrupted by JP Lyons, who spoke without having been recognized by the chair.
The real hero of that meeting was JP Shawndra Washington, starting at 43:39 in the video. She pushed and tried to get answers when rudely interrupted by the judge at 44:41 in the video. He thought it was “...unfair to come up with these questions on the day of the meeting…” We’re talking about over $1.1M of taxpayer dollars! It might be that her questions were making them (the judge and Mr. Robbins) uncomfortable because they didn’t really have answers.
Justice Washington’s questions were important and should have been answered. The fact that she was interrupted and questions weren’t answered is problematic and shows we’re going into this without any clear path to success.
Next at 52:18 in the video we start discussion of an ordinance to increase the per diem rate that is paid to Washington County Justices of the Peace.
We are currently paid $200.00 per diem for any quorum court meeting and/or any committee meeting of the quorum court. I acknowledge that this is a huge increase, but also that it’s so huge because we’re coming from a spot that’s so low. Currently, Washington County Justices of the Peace (JPs) are compensated at a rate of $200 per meeting. This pay structure does not reflect the actual time, effort, and financial burden that many JPs take on while serving the county.
The Role Requires Substantial Time Commitment
Although JPs are considered "part-time" elected officials, the reality is that I know that I dedicate several hours per day to county matters. Beyond attending official meetings, responsibilities include:
Responding to phone calls from constituents and county employees (and I prioritize responding to everyone)
Researching policies, reviewing budgets, and staying informed on county issues (especially time consuming due to lack of transparency)
Attending committee meetings and community events
Coordinating and performing weddings for county residents
At $200 per meeting, I think many JPs are not compensated for the numerous hours spent outside of official sessions handling the needs of the county.
Other Elected County Officials Receive Maximum Pay
All other elected officials in Washington County—such as the county judge, sheriff, assessor, tax collector, and clerks—are full-time employees and currently receive the maximum salary allowed by law. The ordinance that increased their pay was sponsored by Judge Deakins while, in 2022, he was serving as JP for District 5, just before he took office as county judge in 2023. I thought it was disingenuous of him to chastise us JPs from taking a raise when he had done the same thing just before he took office as judge in January 2023.
🌟 DETENTION CENTER INFORMATION 2/23/25
As of 2/8/25, there are at least 764 people locked in our Washington County Detention Center. This is from information on the public facing dashboard. There are likely more than this considering that the sheriff’s office does not post so-called “restrictive bookings” online. Those such postings have been estimated to be 80 - 100 at any time. That’s one of the highest numbers I can remember.
74 of the detainees list addresses as either “homeless” or “1832 S School Street - the address of Seven Hills Homeless Shelter.
Here’s the link to the Detailed Charge Report:
You can check the “Calls for Service” board here.
Here’s a list in alphabetical order to search for people.
READ AND STUDY THE 2020 CRIMINAL JUSTICE ASSESSMENT STUDY PREPARED BY THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR STATE COURTS HERE. READ AND LEARN WHY WE DO NOT NEED TO SPEND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON JAIL EXPANSIONS TO KEEP OUR COMMUNITIES SAFE!
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COUNTY BID POSTINGS 2/23/25
🌟 New bid listing for “Department of Emergency Management Fleet.” Posted 2/10//25. Bid requests for interpretations due by 2:00 PM 2/18/25. Bids due by 4:00 PM 2/24/25. Bids opened 2/25/25 at 9:00 AM. This is for one Non-Pursuit Rated 2025 Chevrolet Tahoe LS - 4WD model equipped with a 5.3L V8 engine and one 2025 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 - 4WD model with tow package.
🌟 New bid posting for Drug Court, Drug Testing Service. Posted 2/3/25. Bids due 3/3/25 at 4:00 PM and bid opening will be 3/4/25, 9:00 o’clock a.m.
Below is the link to current RFQs and bids:
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COUNTY JOB OPENINGS THIS WEEK (2/23/25)
🌟 Part time law clerk x 3 (prosecutor’s office) and another posting for part time law clerk x 3 for the public defender’s office. Salary $16/hr. Requirement: Must be a law student.
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.
Thank you for these updates. Very much appreciated.