LITTLE ROCK — A brief state House City, County & Local Affairs Committee meeting Thursday resulted in Senate Bill 182 moving to the House floor, the last step before it arrives on Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ desk.
The bill, authored by Sen. Ben Gilmore, R-Crossett, with Rep. Glenn Barnes, D-Pine Bluff, as a lead sponsor, would require quorum courts for all 75 counties to either pass a current-year budget by Jan. 1 or continue to use the last approved budget for the previous year as of Dec. 31. Rep. Mike Holcomb, R-Pine Bluff, a committee member, moved for a do-pass recommendation.
Hundreds of Jefferson County employees have not yet been paid in 2025 without a budget in place. The Quorum Court failed for the fifth time since January to establish a budget earlier this week, and employees are typically paid on the 15th and last days of each month. The House is expected to vote on the bill Monday afternoon, with Feb. 15 coming the following Saturday.
“In the event the Quorum Court and the county judge cannot come to a decision on a budget, this bill will have them to continue to pay the staff and bills according to previous-year budget, until that (current-year) budget is in place,” Barnes told the committee in presenting SB102.
Under the bill, the county judge would not be paid his salary and justices of the peace who make up the quorum court would not be paid their per diem for the period during which the previous-year’s budget is in force.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson and the 13 JPs for the county would face the costly penalties if they do not establish a 2025 budget. Robinson’s proposed salary for 2025 is $115,751, which falls within the salary range for a county judge in a Class 5 county (population between 50,000 and 69,999) under state law. The maximum per diem for JPs in a Class 5 county is $12,170, with the minimum being $125.
Robinson on Wednesday said he believes denial of payment for a county judge or JPs is unconstitutional, adding he had spoken with state Reps. Ken Ferguson, D-Pine Bluff, and Barnes about his concerns with SB182.
“It was to a point where, we can’t make any changes to the bill,” Ferguson said Thursday. “We would have to refile the bill. At this point, that was the teeth put in the bill to get legislative and executive branches of county government to go ahead and move into a budget.”
Barnes last week drafted House Bill 1331, which is similar to SB182 in purpose but did not have punitive measures or policies for cities facing a similar issue to Jefferson County’s. He said the house bill would remain dormant.
“Churches and other organizations are trying to get food to give to the workers and give them gift cards to help them get gas and things like that,” Barnes said. “We have over 300 workers who have not been paid for a whole month.”