JP Coger's Washington County UPdate 3/15/26

📅 Week of: March 15, 2026 📍 Washington County, Arkansas

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🏛️ Community & Civic Engagement 

🗳 Republican Primary Runoff – March 31

Secretary of State: Hammer • Norris

County Judge: Shepard • Deakins

✔ Eligible voters: Republican ballot • Nonpartisan ballot • Did not vote March 3

📍 Early Voting: Washington County Clerk Mar 24–30 | 8:00–4:30 (No Saturday voting)

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🏛️ This Week in Washington County

Regular Monthly Quorum Court Meeting

📅 Thursday, March 19, 2026 | ⏰ 6:00 PM

📄 Agenda: HERE🎥 Watch Live: https://www.youtube.com/user/washcoar📑 February Meeting Minutes (Two sets):  HERE.

Key Agenda Items

📡 Item 8 –  Ordinance Ratifying Conditional Use Permit Gene George Communication Tower Project.  Read the Staff Report HERE.Approval of a 104’ wireless communication tower.📍 18127 Deer Rd (WC 547), Fayetteville | Owner: Perry Farms, LLCThe Planning Board approved the permit Feb. 12. 🎥 The WC Planning Board approved this CUP at its 2/12/26 meeting which you may watch HERE starting at 1:28 in the video.

Item 9: ⚖️ An Ordinance Authorizing Retroactive STEP Plan Compensation for Certain County Employees.   This corrects a 2025 oversight (or something) to ensure certain county employees in the Public Defender’s Office and Prosecuting Attorney’s Office receive the STEP adjustment previously approved by the Quorum Court.

✔ Passed unanimously out of Finance & Budget this week.

🎄 Item 10 – Stewart Family Christmas LightsResolution requiring the attraction to cease operations until obtaining required approvals:• Conditional Use Permit• Large Scale Development approval• Floodplain Permit

🎓 Item 11 – Resolution on Student “Good Citizenship”

This resolution references recent student walkouts earlier this year and encourages school districts to review policies related to demonstrations and citizenship education.  Sponsor: JP David Wilson.  Under A.C.A. 14-14-805, "Powers Denied," "...quorum courts... cannot assert legislative acts regarding schools." Here is the letter JPs received from the Washington County Republican Women dated 2/27/26 which contained a similar Resolution, in an attempt to legislate schools. Back then it was referred to as "Student Safety and Instructural Integrity Resolution."

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MEETINGS FROM LAST WEEK:

Finance & Budget Committee meeting 3/10/26.  Watch the meeting HERE.  

✔️  Read a time-stamped summary of the meeting HERE.

⚖️ Accountability Box

Finance & Budget Committee – What It Means for Taxpayers

🔧 STEP Plan Correction Moving Forward An ordinance advanced to the full Quorum Court to provide retroactive STEP pay adjustments for certain county-paid attorneys in the Public Defender’s and Prosecutor’s offices who did not receive raises they should have received in 2025.

💲 Taxpayer Cost: Only $4,199.67 in new appropriations is required. Funding for Public Defender staff is already in the existing budget.

💊 Employee Health Plan Showing Improvement A new prescription drug purchasing strategy reduced specialty medication costs.

✔ $102,000 saved in January alone ✔ Potential $1.2 million annual savings if trends continue

This helped the county’s employee insurance fund begin the year $125,000 in the positive.

📉 County Sales Tax Share Shrinking Recent annexation by the City of Greenland reduced the county’s portion of the sales tax distribution.

Estimated impact: $7,000–$8,000 per month in lost revenue

💳 County Credit Card Spending Under Review Some committee members raised concerns about purchasing card (P-Card) spending, including meals and other charges. The ordinance that JP Bruns added to the agenda would have amended the county judge’s budget for 2026.  Read it HERE.

Current spending levels:

• $50,000–$70,000 per month

📌 The committee postponed action until June to review documentation and consider possible policy changes.

📌 💳 P-Card Payment Reviewed

Item	Amount
Procurement Card Billing	$76,512.22
Billing Date	February 24, 2026

This represents the county’s February payment for purchasing card transactions, which was discussed as part of the committee’s financial review.

📊 County Financial Position Officials reported that despite a $24 million budget deficit on paper, the deficit reflects planned spending of federal COVID relief funds.

Current reserves: ✔ $15 million (about three months of operating expenses) Read more details below in “Follow the Money.”

➡ Next Step: The STEP pay correction ordinance now moves to the full Quorum Court meeting Thursday for final consideration.

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🏛️ Transparency Corner: Public Records

Notice of Online Auction of Real Estate Owned by Washington County Regional Ambulance Authority (WCRAA). You can go HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THE PROPERTY, SEE THE APPRAISAL AND BID DEPOSIT INFORMATION. Also to receive notices.

The auction ends April 1, 2026 at 2:30 PM CDT. This is a former church building that WCRAA is selling as "surplus property."

Note: This is not in any way connected to the Gulley Ranch LLC. It just happens to be on Gulley Road.

📌  At Tuesday’s Finance & Budget meeting, JPs discussed the Johnson Controls Contract from 2019 (Contract 2019-40).  You may read the Contract HERE. On Friday 3/13/26, I sent this email to the county judge and others asking for specific performance reports related to this contract.  I will share with you when I receive it.

Deakins’ Response to Motion for Summary Judgment  Boggan v. Deakins

Deakins’ Brief in Support of Response  Boggan v. Deakins

Deakins’ Affidavit to Support Response  Boggan v. Deakins

Notice of Appeal  Gulley Ranch LLC v. Washington County

Response to Notice of Appeal Filed by WC - Gulley Ranch LLC v. WC

🧾💲   Follow the Money

I am currently reviewing contracts, change orders, and cost details related to the COVID Mitigation Project at the Washington County Detention Center, which has been funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars.

This spreadsheet I recently received provides additional information about project costs and contract changes.  I am comparing those figures with other documentation previously provided by the county.

If you have expertise in construction, contracting, budgeting, or project management and would like to review the information and share your perspective, I would welcome your input.

Transparency and careful oversight are important when reviewing projects funded with federal relief dollars and taxpayer resources.

📊 Cash Flow Trends: 2016–2026

You can view the 2025 Year-End Financial Report HERE.

Key Financial Trends

Category	2016	2025
Beginning Cash Balance	$24,333,060	$62,759,673
Total Revenue	$60,761,091	$106,759,064
Total Expenditures	$60,352,137	$131,120,077
Annual Surplus / Deficit	$408,954 Surplus	$24,361,013 Deficit

Why the Deficit Appears So Large

The 2025 deficit does not necessarily reflect a structural budget problem. Much of it relates to the timing of federal pandemic relief funds.

Washington County received approximately $46.6 million in federal COVID relief funding between 2020 and 2022, which created unusually large surpluses during those years. Federal rules require those funds to be spent by December 31, 2026.

As the county spends those previously received funds on approved projects, the financial reports show large deficits in the later years, even though the money was received earlier.

These numbers illustrate how much the scale of county government has changed in just ten years. 

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📊 Washington County Jail Data Dashboard

Transparency through data

Snapshot Date: March 15, 2026

Individuals Incarcerated in WCDC: 688

Homeless/Unsheltered:   71

⚖️ Detention Center Data

HERE is a table of bonds/individuals currently housed in the Washington County Detention Center (WCDC) who have had bond amounts set by a judicial officer.

It is important to note that not everyone with a bond amount listed is eligible for release. Some individuals remain in custody due to additional legal holds, pending charges, or other restrictions that prevent release, even when a bond has been set.

📈 3-Day Activity Snapshot

(March 12 – March 14, 2026)

New Bookings	84
Releases	30

🔎 Public Data Resources

Detailed reports are available here:

Detainee 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.

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🧾 County Bid Postings (as of 03/15/26):  

ACTIVE BIDS:   None

COMPLETED BIDS:

Bid 2026- 08  RFP for Drug Testing - Circuit Court Div. 4.   Sign-in Sheet HERE.  Bid Tabulation Sheet HERE. 

You can view all closed bids here.  View all RFQs and bids [here].

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🧑‍💼Here are the Washington County Job Openings as of 3/15/26

Includes, but not limited to, “Road Department - Road & Bridge Maintenance Supervisor”  Salary/Pay Rate:  $63,856.00 - $70,387.20.  “HR Director - Salary/Pay Rate:  $102,648 - $113,152

There are other good job opportunities available - check them out and share!

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Thank you for staying informed and engaged in Washington County.

— Beth Coger

Justice of the Peace, District 9

Washington County Quorum Court