New county judges see legislative experience as key tool
Posted on Sunday, November 9, 2008
Two term-limited state legislators are coming home to serve as county judges in the most populous counties of Northwest Arkansas.
“Going to Little Rock first is almost like going to get your Ph. D. then coming back to a smaller classroom,” said Jerry Hunton, who has served as Washington County judge for the past 10 years.
Hunton should know. He was a state representative from Prairie Grove for eight years before being elected county judge in 1998.
“Everything we did in the last 10 years was based very much on my experience in the Legislature,” he said.
Hunton, who is retiring from the job to devote his time to farming, will be replaced Jan. 1 by Democrat Marilyn Edwards. She defeated Earvel Fraley, a Republican, 37, 750-27, 640 in the Nov. 4 general election.
Edwards was Washington County clerk for 26 years, then served in the state House of Representatives for the past six years.
Sen. Dave Bisbee, R-Rogers, was in a similar situation. After serving six years in the state House and 10 years in the Senate, it was time to go, so Bisbee ran for Benton County judge. He defeated Bill Williams, a Democrat, 50, 255-22, 574.
Gary D. Black, a Republican who has been Benton County judge for the past eight years, did not seek reelection.
Edwards and Bisbee could help Northwest Arkansas when it needs state support for local issues from having learned to work with state and other areas’ officials during their legislative tenure.
Hunton said the new county judges will be well equipped to lobby the Legislature for changes in state law. About six times during his tenure as county judge, Hunton said he noticed discrepancies in state law and the way counties were supposed to conduct business. With help from the Arkansas County Judges Association, Washington County lobbied the Legislature for changes that were eventually made in the state statutes.
“Once you’re in the Legislature, you know the different state agencies and places you can go to get grants and that sort of stuff,” said Butch Calhoun, who was a state representative for three terms before serving as Prairie County judge for eight years. Calhoun is now director of the Arkansas Department of Rural Services.
“It’s just a good learning curve,” he said. “And I think county judges make good legislators, too.”
Hunton said he took several ideas from his tenure in the Legislature and implemented them as county judge. He set up Quorum Court committee rooms like the Legislature’s committee rooms, and he held a monthly reception an hour before Quorum Court meetings, paying $ 40 out of his pocket every month for the finger food. No business was discussed at the receptions, which were social gatherings that seemed to make the ensuing meetings more civil.
“We didn’t have the infighting, the outbursts, somebody wanting to kill the other one,” Hunton said.
County judges are responsible for all county property — everything from sheriff’s police cars to courthouses. They sign all contracts and have to keep a watchful eye on budgetary matters.
“If you don’t handle your finances correctly, you’ll face the day when you have to lay off county employees,” said Hunton, who is leaving Edwards with a balanced budget and $ 15 million in the bank in investments. But about $ 10 million of that will be needed for a new parking deck at the Washington County Courthouse and $ 5 million for renovation of the old county courthouse.
Edwards is used to working on budgetary issues on the state level and speaking before the 100-member state House. That should be an excellent prerequisite for dealing with Washington County’s budget and meetings of the 13-member Quorum Court, said Hunton.
“I’m not saying I know all the answers, but I didn’t know all the answers when I took over as county clerk,” Edwards said.
She does, however, know a lot of people in Little Rock and across the state who can give her the answers.
Edwards said she’ll be involved with the County Judges Association and the Association of Arkansas Counties so she can get information from other counties.
“When you’re the county administrator, you’ve got to know who to talk to on a first-name basis,” she said.
Bisbee said it helps to know the governor and people on his staff.
“When you serve in the Legislature, you have that scope,” said Matt DeCample, a spokesman for Gov. Mike Beebe. “You have seen issues that have popped up in other parts of the state. You’ve seen how it’s been dealt with before.”
Bisbee was chairman of the Senate’s budget committee from 2003 through 2006. The state’s budget is over $ 6 billion. Benton County’s annual budget is closer to $ 35 million.
“But a small budget can be more difficult than a big one,” Bisbee said. “Somebody who’s got a lot of money doesn’t have to budget so tightly.”
Bisbee said some people believe he wants to usurp the power of the Quorum Court, but he doesn’t.
“I hope to get the Quorum Court to take more power,” he said. “It will serve them well in the years to come.”
The biggest difference from the Legislature, Bisbee said, is that the Quorum Court and county judge’s offices seem to be a hybrid of governmental entities — part judicial, executive and legislative.
Besides budgetary matters, county judges in Arkansas sign orders for Quorum Court proceedings and hear appeals from citizens who have taken property appraisals to the equalization board and weren’t happy with the rulings they got.
That’s about all the “judging” they do. Edwards said county judges are really “county administrators.”
Bisbee said lazy legislators could get away with quite a bit, but county judges are in the spotlight.
“You can be a legislator and not do anything but go to Little Rock and vote,” he said. “But that’s just a minutia of what you did if you really work. You have to work as a county judge. I don’t believe you can hide.”
Edwards said she’ll be vigilant in her search for grant opportunities for Washington County.
“If you don’t try to get those grants, you don’t have enough money to get things done,” she said. “And if you don’t apply for them, you don’t get them.”
Also, Edwards said it’s important to know how to purchase government surplus property. If she can save the county $ 100, 000 on a used road grader, “then we’ll do it,” Edwards said.
“Some people say county judge is all roads and bridges,” Edwards said. “I do not intend to build a road or a bridge. I need to have good people over here who’ll do that for me.”
State representatives are used to doing constituent services from a distance, Hunton said.
“Now, she’s going to have up close and personal contact with constituent services,” he said.
“It’s hard for me to tell you what I’m going to do until I get in and visit with all these office administrators,” Edwards said. “You have to visit with these people in the trenches because they know what’s going on.... You have to keep the line of communications open with all the county offices. You’ve got to share knowledge.”
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
