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DISCUSSION HEATS UP OVER JPS' TRIP TO HAWAII

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Wednesday, March 9, 2005 1:00 PM CST

One member of the Jefferson County Quorum Court said Tuesday he will pay his own way to a national conference at Hawaii, an alternate said he didn't plan to go and a third still wants to go and thought the county should pay the bill.

The National Association of Counties annual conference is scheduled at Honolulu from July 15 to 19. In January, the Quorum Court voted to send Justice of the Peace H.O. Gray as the delegate and JP Ted Harden as the alternate. Both are members of national committees and have attended conferences previously.

Three other JPs Delton Wright, Jacqueline Roberts and Glen Brown, also said they wanted to go during a meeting Tuesday of the Community Development/Grants Committee, chaired by Wright, where the discussion got heated.

"I would not support paying the expenses of anybody other than the two people we voted to send," said JP Cleddie Shock. "I just want everybody to know how I feel."

Wright said while he had talked to several people in his district who didn't oppose him going, he planned to pay his own way if the county couldn't afford to pay his expenses.

"I'm my own man and I have been since I came on this court," Wright said. "I think this is the right thing for me to do -- to set an example and to bring the information back."

Harden said at this point he was not planning to go.

"I've expressed my displeasure with the National Association of Counties about the location because it has caused problems not only here, but nationwide," he said. "I have real problems with the expense, and, because I think we need to be represented, we need to send Justice Gray."

As a former Arkansas legislator, Roberts said she had attended national conferences before and "they're not vacations. They're held so people can learn."

"I have not had anybody call me and say not to go and, since Justice Wright is paying his way, he can pay mine, too," she said.

Brown defended his request to go, saying he believed the conference is designed to provide useful information to county officials.

"I don't want to pay my own way and think the county should pay for all of us that want to go," Brown said.

In other business, funding for a part-time investigator's position in the Prosecuting Attorney's Office was recommended for approval when the full Quorum Court meets on Monday.

Prosecutor Steve Dalrymple said the position "is essential to this office to help track witnesses, victims and defendants, as well as serve subpoenas."

Retired Pine Bluff Police Lt. Larry Plunkett has been working as an investigator since January and Dalrymple said money to cover his salary would come from the prosecuting attorney's confiscated drug fund account.

Harden, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, recommended the appropriation but said the ordinance would need to be revised to create a new fund and department "to establish a paper trail for auditors."

That revised ordinance is scheduled for consideration Monday during the full meeting of the Quorum Court.

The JPs also recommended the approval of a new part-time position for an environmental enforcement officer for the rest of the year. A $22,000 budget -- including salary, maintenance and operational costs -- will be transferred from the Solid Waste Management Fund.

A fund was created to disperse a $131,000 grant from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management for Homeland Security. That money will be used for radio communications equipment.

Also Tuesday night, Quorum Court members heard about a fund-raiser the Sheriff's Department is planning next month. Lt. Tyra Tyler said the department was trying to raise money to buy fingerprint identification kits for children and for a new drug K-9. Tyler said the fund-raiser, a fish dinner, is planned April 5 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Hestand Stadium arena.

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