JP Coger's Washington County UPdate 8/9/26
- Beth Coger
- 7 days ago
- 9 min read
Welcome to this week's Washington County Update!
The Finance & Budget Committee meets Monday evening to begin important discussions about the county’s 2027 budget. This week’s newsletter examines proposed employee salary increases and their potential effect on labor budgets, two ordinances designed to strengthen the Quorum Court’s control over capital spending (which I support), and the proposed SCAAP ordinance involving the county’s participation in a federal immigration-enforcement reimbursement program (which I do not support).
You will also find summaries of the latest county financial reports, current job openings and other significant agenda items.
These decisions involve millions of dollars and important questions about transparency, accountability and the county’s priorities. I encourage you to review the information, attend the meeting if you can and contact your representatives with your thoughts.
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🌟 TWO IMPORTANT BUDGET-SAFEGUARD ORDINANCES
Two important ordinances on Monday night’s agenda would strengthen the Quorum Court’s control over public funds and long-term capital projects.
In my view, we need both ordinances. One addresses the immediate disposition of $2 million in the Buildings & Grounds budget, while the other establishes a broader countywide rule preventing capital funds from being redirected without Quorum Court approval.
Please see Items 11 and 14 in the agenda discussion below for additional information and links to the complete ordinances.
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👀 Looking Ahead
Washington County Quorum Court Finance & Budget Meeting is Monday, 8/10/26 at 6:00 P.M. It is on a Monday this month, instead of Tuesday, because several JPs will be attending the Arkansas Association of Counties Conference in Hot Springs beginning 8/11/26.
Washington County Planning Board Meeting is Thursday, 8/13/26 at 5:00 PM. As of publication, I have not received the agenda for the August 13 Planning Board meeting. Because the board lacked a quorum last month, I expect the postponed items listed below to return. If the new agenda includes additional items, I will post an update on social media.
Read last month’s agenda HERE. This meeting will be live-streamed on the County’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/washcoar
↪ Last month’s agenda included two Conditional Use Permit hearings and two County Land Development hearings.
Long Pine K9 CUP Staff Report & Application: Location: 6328 W. Cindy Hollow Lane, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72704. Applicant: Cindy and Annika Boehm. Proposed Use: Commercial - Dog Training Facility.
Phillips Masonry Inc CUP Staff Report & Application: Location: 1820 N Starnes Rd., Fayetteville, Arkansas 72704. Applicant: Dylan Phillips. Proposed Use: Commercial - Construction Storage Facility.
Replat Lots 8 & 10 Honey Hollow Subdivision Staff Report: Location: 10001 Honey Hollow RD, WC 2035, Winslow, Arkansas 72759. Applicant: Bates & Associates. Proposed Use: Single-Family Residential.
Replat Tract 4 Wilderness Run Subdivision Phase I: Location: 20558 Big Spring Rd., Winslow, Arkansas 72959. Applicants: Chet Swartzentruber, Jeff Lovan and Allen Treadwell. Proposed Use: Single-Family Residential.
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📊 Key Numbers This Week
$69,750,821 — 2026 total labor budget
$72,519,222 — projected 2027 labor budget before the listed new-position requests
$698,010.54 — cost of the three groups of new-position requests
$73,217,232.54 — projected 2027 labor budget with those new-position requests
$464,525 — separate estimated cost of moving annual step increases to January
If the new-position requests and the January increase are cumulative, the potential labor total would be approximately $73.68 million—$3.93 million, or 5.64%, above 2026. The salary for the proposed fleet-manager position had also not been determined and would increase the total further.
760 inmates housed in the Washington County Detention Center (WCDC) 8/7/26
The sheriff reported zero COVID cases as of August 1, with the last recorded case on June 10—even though the more than $20 million COVID Mitigation Project has not yet been completed.
167 people sleeping on the floor at WCDC 7/31/26.
14 people in WCDC held by ICE 7/31/26
Two or three times per week — According to Sheriff Jay Cantrell, ICE transportation comes to the jail two or three times per week to transfer people to immigration detention facilities.
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TRANSPARENCY CORNER AND FOLLOW THE MONEY
JPs received information about the county’s Step Plan and salary costs for 2027 from Jessica Bennett, Human Resources Director, which you can read HERE. The presentation identifies three groups of new-position requests totaling $698,010.54:
County Judge: $449,436
Judge Durrett: $104,530
Juvenile Detention Center: $144,044.54
Read the justification letters for these new hires HERE.
How the step system works
The county implemented its step plan in 2025. Employees were placed on the salary step closest to their existing pay, and employees with satisfactory performance were generally eligible for a 5% step increase.
The presentation emphasizes several budget controls (which are very much needed):
Employees must receive documented performance evaluations.
Managers who do not recommend a raise because of performance concerns must provide the evaluation and supporting documentation to HR.
Hiring managers may place a new employee at Step 1 or Step 2.
Only the HR director may authorize hiring at Step 3, after reviewing the applicant’s experience and the pay of comparable employees.
Employees at Step 10 have reached the top of the plan and ordinarily are not eligible for another step increase.
Although eligible employees may receive a 5% step raise, that does not mean the entire labor budget rises by exactly 5%. The overall percentage also reflects vacancies, employee turnover, employees at Step 10, regrades, benefit costs, the timing of raises, and new positions.
I would really appreciate hearing from anyone, but especially county employees, on how they feel about these changes.
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↪ REMINDER: Judge Durrett, 6th Division, has set a hearing in the case of Neil Mehta v. Washington County, Jay Cantrell et al. 72CV-26-3011 for 8/13/26 at 10:30 a.m. See Notice HERE. This hearing will be open to the public for anyone who desires to attend.
Read the Complaint HERE.
See Washington County’s Answer HERE.
See Mr. Mehta’s Renewed Motion and Brief for Expedited Hearing HERE.
The complaint raises questions about Deputy Eli Jordan Hobbs’s reported use of both a Washington County government email account and an email account associated with fbi.gov.
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UPCOMING MEETINGS IN WASHINGTON COUNTY:
📅 Washington County Quorum Court Finance & Budget Meeting is Monday, 8/10/26 at 6:00 PM. This meeting will be live-streamed on the County’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/washcoar
Read Complete Agenda HERE.
At the conclusion of the meeting—after the agenda decisions have been made—there will be a twelve-minute public-comment period. Each speaker will be limited to three minutes and may address agenda or non-agenda matters. Additionally, there will be a similar twelve-minute public-comment period before we vote on any ordinance or resolution.
Agenda Items Include:
Item 4: Treasurer’s Report - Bobby Hill — July 2026
Key county fund balances as of July 31 included:
General Fund: $15.23 million
General Reserve Fund: $14.79 million
Jail Operations and Maintenance Fund: $7.02 million
Road Fund: $4.29 million
ARPA Fund: $1.52 million
ARPA Revenue Replacement Fund: $946,390
Community Rebuilding Initiative Fund: $174,557
The General Fund spent approximately $902,514 more than it received during July, declining from $16.13 million to $15.23 million. The General Reserve Fund declined by approximately $357,816. The Jail Operations and Maintenance Fund received $1.90 million and spent $2.00 million, reducing its balance by approximately $100,174.
County General property-tax receipts through July totaled approximately $10.68 million—about 6.34% higher than during the same period in 2025.
Item 5: Employee Insurance Fund Report - Charles Angel The Employee Insurance Fund ended July with a reported cash balance of $0, after the county transferred $408,341.95 from the General Reserve Fund on the final day of the month to cover a negative balance.
The fund began July with only $150,711.43. It received approximately $1.25 million during the month but paid approximately $1.40 million in claims, insurance premiums, administrative expenses, and other costs.
The largest expense was $1.22 million in Blue Advantage medical claims. That was approximately $200,566—or nearly 20%—higher than June’s claims of $1.01 million. Medical claims alone accounted for approximately 87% of all July expenses.
Through the first seven months of 2026, the fund reported:
Total income: $6.67 million
Total expenses: $7.19 million
Expenses exceeding income: approximately $516,143
Blue Advantage medical claims: $5.62 million
Bottom line: The county’s self-funded employee health plan remains under significant financial pressure. July claims substantially exceeded regular monthly contributions, forcing the fund to draw more than $408,000 from the General Reserve just to close the month at zero. A zero ending balance does not mean employee coverage ended, but it does mean the fund had no remaining cash cushion at the end of July.
Item 6: Comptroller’s Report - Paul Sherman The Comptroller’s Report shows Washington County operating under an amended 2026 budget of approximately $140.39 million as of July 31. The county had spent $70.66 million, or 50.3% of that budget, and had another $10.31 million encumbered through contracts, purchase orders, or other commitments.
The Jail Operations budget totaled $27.07 million. It had spent approximately $13.64 million and encumbered another $2.43 million. Jail Maintenance had spent $842,231 of its $2.85 million budget and encumbered another $393,517.
SCAAP is a voluntary program in which the sheriff chooses to participate. To receive reimbursement, the county must submit specific personal information about certain incarcerated individuals whom the federal government classifies as “undocumented criminal aliens.” To qualify, an individual must have been incarcerated for at least four consecutive days and convicted of at least one felony or two misdemeanors.
This program contributes to family separation, creates fear within immigrant communities, and causes lasting harm. And the financial return is remarkably small: in FY2024, Washington County received approximately $1 for every $100 it reported spending on correctional officer salaries. Our immigrant neighbors contribute greatly to Washington County and are vital to both our community and our local economy.
This ordinance, sponsored by JP Brad Bruns, would remove $2 million from the 2026 Buildings & Grounds budget and return it to County General Unappropriated Reserves. This ordinance states: “...no County funds should be committed to long-term capital projects without the involvement of and legislative approval of the Quorum Court.”
This ordinance, sponsored by JP Kyle Lyons, would amend the budget controls governing the 2026 Washington County budget. It would restrict appropriated capital outlay funds to the specific project or purpose for which the Quorum Court approved them and require Quorum Court approval before those funds could be used for another purpose. The restriction would also apply to all currently outstanding capital outlay appropriations.
I do not yet know whether Item 14 was introduced as an alternative to Item 11 or as a separate proposal. In my view, we need both: Item 11 addresses the immediate disposition of the $2 million in the Buildings & Grounds budget, while Item 14 establishes a broader safeguard governing capital outlay appropriations throughout the county.
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REPORT ON COUNTY SERVICES MEETING OF 8/3/26:
Watch the complete video of the meeting HERE.
Read time-stamped Summary HERE. Please remember that this is a “summary” and what is included is what I think should be included. It is not meant to cover every discussion. If you want a complete understanding of what occurred at the meeting, you should watch the entire video at the above link.
📊 Washington County Jail Data Dashboard
⚖️ Detention Center Data. Read the most recent Inmate Population Analysis HERE.
Washington County Jail Population Snapshot
As of 8:11 a.m. on August 7, the Washington County Detention Center reported a high count of 760 inmates, including 93 federal prisoners and 354 people being held pretrial. The average person in the report was 38 years old, had spent 181 days in jail and had an average bond of $59,385.11. Collectively, those in custody had accumulated 137,680 jail days.
There have been 6,587 bookings year to date, with an average of 7.02 prior bookings among the people included in the report. It also reported that 555 current inmates had previously been incarcerated and that 85 people in custody were foreign-born as of August 7.
Read the Detainee Summary HERE.
These numbers reinforce my longstanding support for meaningful pretrial services (which differ from the County's Community Rebuilding Initiative) and for re-establishing a Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee to examine system-wide solutions. Read the 2020 Criminal Justice Assessment Study HERE.
🔎 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 08/09/26):
Bid 2026-17 - Emergency Management Fleet - seeks vehicles and related transportation equipment for Emergency Management, including cars, SUVs, utility vehicles and pickup trucks. This bid was posted 7/31/26. Bids are due 8/17/26 at 4:00 PM. Opening Date is 8/18/26 - no time given. Questions must be submitted by 8/10/26 - no time given.
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🧑💼Here are the Washington County Job Openings as of 08/09/26. Click on any link below to start the application process.
Washington County is advertising 15 job postings representing at least 19 available positions: 17 full-time positions, one part-time position and one temporary position.
Openings include detention and patrol officers, a 911 communications specialist, juvenile intake and probation officers, a deputy assessor, a janitorial position, and a part-time IT desk-support internship. The county is also seeking temporary election poll workers.
Pay ranges from $14 per hour for election poll workers to $64,708.80 annually for the Probation Team Lead. Most positions are open until filled; however, several Road Department applications are due August 9 or August 14.
View and apply for all county job openings HERE. Please share these opportunities with anyone who may be interested. ___________________________________________________________
Good government depends on an informed and engaged community. Thank you for taking the time to stay informed about the Washington County government. If you found this newsletter helpful, please consider sharing it with your neighbors, friends, and family.
— Beth Coger
Justice of the Peace, District 9
Washington County Quorum Court
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