An attempt to establish a 2025 budget for Jefferson County government, with a state bill otherwise calling for punitive measures on the line, fell short of the quorum needed to conduct a vote Saturday evening.
Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson called a special Quorum Court meeting, but only four justices of the peace – Patricia Royal Johnson in District 4, Jimmy Fisher in District 5, Roy Agee in District 8, and Ted Harden in District 12 – were present. Those JPs, along with Dr. Conley F. Byrd in District 10, and the now-resigned Danny Holcomb in District 11, have often sided with Robinson’s proposed budget.
Had a budget been enacted, it would have ended a five-week stalemate between a majority of the Quorum Court and Robinson that has resulted in nearly 400 county workers not being paid. The Quorum Court has now been unsuccessful in six tries this year to finalize a budget. Employees are typically paid on the 15th and last days of each month, and Feb. 15 is next Saturday.
“We have reached across the table to try to address those concerns to try to get this budget passed in order to get these employees paid,” Robinson said while showing the concessions he made on a pull-down screen. “Let me make it clear, it is my intention and has been my intention to always make sure we take care of our employees. That has never been an issue with me.”
Senate Bill 182, sponsored by state Sen. Ben Gilmore, R-Crossett, and state Rep. Glenn Barnes, D-Pine Bluff, is on the agenda for Monday afternoon’s House session at the state Capitol in Little Rock. If passed, it will head to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ desk for her to sign into law.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The bill calls for every county that does not pass a budget by Jan. 1 to keep the previous-year budget in effect until one for the current year is established to process payroll and address bills and other expenses. The consequence is that pay for the county judge and all justices of the peace would be withheld while the previous-year budget is in place.
“We talk specifically about encroaching upon each branch’s ability to operate, such as judicial can infringe upon executive, executive can infringe upon the legislative,” Robinson said, addressing flaws he sees with SB182. “But when you create a bill that states whether a budget was valid or invalid, you’re going to use that previous year’s budget, that means that you are saying that it doesn’t matter what (Special Judge Randy) Wright said (in a December hearing that the majority of the justices met without an active order on the rules of procedure). It doesn’t matter. And I think that should have been taken into account. It is going to cause some issues. Right now, it’s in Jefferson County, but I promise you it’s going to happen in those other counties.”
Several of the JPs contacted Robinson and indicted they would not make the meeting, leaving it short of the seven needed for a quorum. Robinson emailed an agenda for the special meeting after the close of business at the Jefferson County Courthouse on Friday, and County Clerk Shawndra Taggart responded almost 4 hours later that evening, saying she would be out of town for a previously scheduled engagement and her staff was unavailable to attend due to short notice.
“As the secretariat to the Quorum Court, it would be beneficial if you or your staff properly communicate with my office to ensure staff would be available for future meetings,” Taggart wrote.
Robinson went over his latest concessions, cutting more than $600,000 from his office (from $1,693,807 to $1,032,557) and adding to the offices of the sheriff (from $2,462,556 to $2,600,349), county clerk (from $711,718 to $720,501), circuit clerk (from $388,372 to $402,423), treasurer (from $217,898 to 258,310), tax collector (from $477,066 to $536,132), assessor ($644,385 to $685,727), and prosecuting attorney (from $544,394 to $586,158), as well as the Quorum Court ($241,487 to $260,987). Robinson said he agreed to cover half of the raises for each salary that those who have voted down his budget have pushed for.
The general fund total was reduced from $12,022,000 to $11,723,463.
The proposal also reveals Robinson increased funding for the Juvenile Justice Center (from $2,074,351 to $2,222,379), adult jail (from $4,903,476 to $5,168,559) and collector’s automation (from $101,313 to $109,975). The miscellaneous fund total increased from $25,031,869 to $25,453,644, making the budget total $37,177,106.
None of the JPs submitted a countering proposal for Saturday’s meeting. Many in the majority who more often than not stand against Robinson’s proposal – Alfred Carroll in District 1, Reginald Adams in District 2, Reginald Johnson in District 3, Margarette Williams in District 6, Melanie Johnson Dumas in District 7, Cedric Jackson in District 9 and Brenda Bishop Gaddy in District 13 –have accused Robinson of not working with them or refusing to go over their proposal with them to come up with a compromise.
Robinson maintains the majority, which had met in some previous meetings he did not recognize, acted out of accordance with the law and tried to create some raises for county officials in non-elected positions he would not have approved. Those who opposed Robinson argued Jefferson County brought in a surplus of tax dollars during 2024 to allow for the raises.
With the quorum falling short, Robinson lobbed a slew of accusations against former District 5 JP Lloyd Franklin II, including wanting to be the legislative clerk that the majority of the JPs wanted to hire in their proposal and orchestrating a plan to keep the Quorum Court without a lawful budget in place.
“You have come to this Quorum Court and you have disrespected this Quorum Court,” Robinson said. “You have blatantly, as if the public doesn’t see, texted the other justices giving them messages on what they need to do. You yourself have sat against the wall and said, ‘Don’t go for that.'”
As said in the movies, Robinson told Franklin, “You have awakened a sleeping giant.” Franklin did not respond during the meeting.
“I just came to support the Quorum Court,” Franklin said afterward. “There are a lot of accusations out there that were one-sided, but out of respect for the county judge and Quorum Court, I didn’t interrupt the meeting. I thought a lot of things he said were baseless and unfounded and unfactual, but like I said, he’s the county judge, and when we step into this Quorum Court room, it’s the republic of Gerald Robinson, so he’s allowed to say whatever he wants to say.”