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Former District 11 Justice of the Peace Danny Holcomb said he did not report any threats to Jefferson County Sheriff Lafayette Woods Jr. or his office, a day after citing threats in his resignation from the Quorum Court.
Reached Monday, Holcomb said such acts took place Saturday. The Quorum Court was to meet Monday evening to vote on a 2025 county budget, which has yet to be enacted and has resulted in a missed payroll for nearly 400 county employees.
“It was some stuff around my house,” Holcomb said, declining to go into detail about the threats. “It came to the fact that I have kids and grandkids. There’s no way I’m going to put my family at risk. I’ve been serving on the school board and Quorum Court for 25 years, but I just couldn’t take it anymore.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Holcomb was sworn into his fourth term on the Quorum Court on Jan. 1.
Woods confirmed neither he nor his office had received any reports of threats against any justice of the peace amid the ongoing budget stalemate.
In a letter dated Sunday to County Judge Gerald Robinson, the Quorum Court and his constituents, Holcomb cited “recent events that have adversely affected my health and have caused me great concern about the safety & security of my family.” Robinson said Sunday he understood but was disappointed by Holcomb’s decision, adding he was “fully aware of threats to him and other justices as well.”
Asked about how to protect JPs who may be facing threats amid the stalemate, Robinson said that responsibility falls squarely on the sheriff.
Woods, who succeeded Robinson as sheriff in 2019, answered when asked if he or his office received threats: “Absolutely not. There was nothing reported to us about it. If there had been something reported, regardless of political stance, we would have acted on it. I’m not sure if that’s an excuse to justify your resignation, but that was a cowardly way of doing it.”
Woods has been a vocal critic of Robinson’s leadership of the Quorum Court, calling out proposed and enacted cuts in recent budgets to his office that have resulted in slashed jobs or salaries and cuts to education, medical service and foodservice for inmates.
Woods said he has attended every Quorum Court meeting and has not heard of or seen anyone bring a threat to his attention.
“If there has been a threat, why hasn’t anything been reported?” he said.
Holcomb was one of three justices who abstained from voting on a proposed budget by Robinson on Jan. 20, the other two being Reginald Adams and Cedric Jackson. Five justices voted yes to the budget, and five others voted no.
A secondary vote, as Holcomb described it, on a proposal from seven of the justices failed as well. Two-thirds of the Quorum Court, or nine of the 13 justices, are needed to approve a budget.
“A lot of things (were) in there that didn’t need to be there,” Holcomb said of the secondary proposal. “A lot of extra money and certain departments. I was of the opinion if we had that much money, we needed to give it back and take care of constituents and fix roads and other services.
Holcomb also explained why he abstained from voting on Robinson’s proposal. He added he moved to continue the 2024 budget to have county employees paid, a motion that drew a second but ultimately failed.
“There were some things that weren’t in there that needed to be there such as grant funding and salary issues and personnel, county issues,” he said. “I was kind of under the feeling the budget revenues were going to increase. I really didn’t see a reason why people had to lose their jobs. If our revenues will be up, I don’t want to see people lose their jobs. At least we should maintain.”
Holcomb, along with Roy Agee, Dr. Conley Byrd, Jimmy Fisher, Ted Harden and Patricia Royal Johnson, have drawn criticism from those who oppose them on several county issues, suggesting the group of six will agree with Robinson no matter the issue. Robinson has said the minority group stands firm in the law in their decisions.
“I didn’t stand with (Robinson) on this last one,” Holcomb said. “I voted to abstain, which is basically a ‘no’ vote. There’s a lot of good people on the Quorum Court. … If I vote for something, it’s what’s best for the county. It has nothing to do with the judge.”
Holcomb said he wanted to raise the least amount of commotion and for all justices to quit taking sides and move toward a solution. Even Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders commented on the matter Monday, saying she spoke with Robinson and was hopeful the “gridlock will be solved and Jefferson County government can get back to serving the people.”
According to Section 14-14-1310(b) of the Arkansas Code, all vacancies in JP and other elective township offices shall be filled by the governor. Section 14-14-1309 requires the Quorum Court to declare the vacancy in writing with the governor.
“I couldn’t get anything going,” Holcomb said. “It’s just dysfunctional, in my opinion.”