YOU CAN HELP STOP JAIL EXPANSION IN WASHINGTON COUNTY. HERE'S HOW: Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition, a local nonprofit with offices at 205 N. College Avenue, Fayetteville, recently filed a lawsuit against Washington County to stop the county from illegally using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars to expand the Washington County Jail. Lawsuits are expensive. The county judge asked for and received $100,000.00 from the Quorum Court (YOUR TAX DOLLARS. I voted NO) and hired attorneys Wright, Lindsey & Jennings to represent the county in the lawsuit (we have two full-time and highly paid county attorneys on staff).
Here's more information on ARPA Rules and Regulations from the United States Treasury.
After AJRC filed its complaint, the county filed a Motion and Brief to Dismiss the lawsuit.
AJRC filed its Response here. A hearing is scheduled for 9/12/24 at 1:30 PM in Judge Brooks’ courtroom here in Fayetteville (mark your calendars now):
John Paul Hammerschmidt Federal Building
35 East Mountain Street
Room 510
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701-5354
The county has almost unlimited funds to fight the lawsuit because they’re using your tax dollars to enable them to continue with their quest to fund jail expansion in Washington County, while completely ignoring the US Treasury Rules that says this is generally not an eligible use of ARPA money. The county knows that if $100,000.00 is not sufficient, they can come back to the quorum court and likely get more, just by asking.
AJRC is a small nonprofit, a 501(c)(3) organization, whose goal is to end mass incarceration. They do not have unlimited funds. It’s a David v. Goliath situation, but you can help level the playing field.
This lawsuit is in federal court and has already been expensive and will continue to be even more so as there will be depositions, discovery, attorney time and travel, expert witnesses, and just regular costs associated with any lawsuit.
If you are able and would like to donate to help AJRC fight this illegal use of your ARPA funds, which at some point the taxpayers of Washington County could be required to pay back to the federal government, you can go here to donate: https://givebutter.com/Qxefjj
There’s a pull-down menu “Designate your gift,” and you can choose “Stop Jail Expansion” as your gift category. I’m sure any amount will be appreciated.
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🌟 WASHINGTON COUNTY QUORUM COURT REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING, in person only, Thursday 7/18/24, 6:00 PM, WASHINGTON COUNTY COURTHOUSE. Meeting will be live-streamed on the Washington County YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/washcoar
Here’s the Agenda for the meeting.
As of this time there’s only a “Consent Agenda.” Everything on the consent agenda was passed at last week’s Finance & Budget Committee meeting with a “do pass” recommendation.
Items do get added at the last minute, but that’s it as of 7/13/24 at 11:00 AM.
There is a fifteen minute public comment period at the beginning of the meeting (Item 5) and each person may speak for up to three minutes on any issue.
There will be a twelve minute public comment time before we vote on the consent agenda or any resolution or ordinance.
This should be a short meeting, but it’s a great time for the public to come and speak to the court. Those fifteen minutes should not go to waste. I hope to see you there!
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LAST WEEK’S MEETINGS:
Tuesday’s Combined Finance & Budget and County Services meetings can be viewed here.
Thursday’s Planning Board meeting can be viewed here.
The board approved a commercial warehouse project at 7645 W. John Garrison Road. Applicant Joseph Warren. A chicken house that is already on the property will be replaced with a 40' x 510’ six unit metal commercial building. There’s already a commercial building on the property, too. These units will be rented for storage, at least that’s the anticipated use.
Also approved a permit for Kramer Facility, a commercial detergent/soap distribution facility at 10508 N. Highway 265.
The Red Hawk storage facility at 10637 SE Campbell Road was tabled because only four board members were present. That item will be on the agenda for the next Planning Board meeting which is set for 8/22/24, 5:00 pm.
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🌟 SAVE OUR NWA COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS CENTER
Still no meeting date for the Arkansas Board of Corrections July meeting.
If you haven’t done so, or if you have done so and want to do it again, contact Judge Deakins, Sheriff Cantrell, the Arkansas Board of Corrections, the governor, and your legislators. Tell them you want the NWA CCC (the women’s prison on College Avenue) to remain here so that women can get the treatment they need and the benefit from the over 350 community volunteers from 24 different volunteer groups that come into the women’s prison to teach, mentor and guide the women! They also have a Civilian Advisory Committee for the facility.
Did you know that the 2020 Criminal Justice Assessment Study prepared by the National Center for State Courts had to say about our CCC (P. 119):
"NWA CCC, the female center in Fayetteville, is a model for jails and prisons."
Here’s how you can contact your county officials. You can write to the Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Corrections, Lindsay Wallace, by contacting her Chief of Staff, Wade Hodges, at Wade.Hodge@doc.arkansas.gov and Vicki McDonald at Vicki.McDonald@doc.arkansas.gov or by calling 501-682-3309.
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🌟 WASHINGTON COUNTY DETENTION CENTER INFORMATION 7/14/24
Here’s the link to an Excel Spreadsheet of the data which you can download and play around with and get a lot more information.
As of 7/13/24, there are at least 767 people locked away in our Washington County Detention Center. Most of those are pretrial - meaning they’ve been arrested and/or charged, but have not been found guilty. 99 of those people are homeless. The unsheltered population consists mostly of young people in their 20s, 30s or 40s, up to 50. There are 16 people (same as last week) who are listed as unsheltered or homeless that are over 50.
Here’s the link to the Detailed Charge Report:
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NEW COUNTY BID POSTINGS
🌟 No new bids or proposals are posted on the county website as of 7/13/24.
COUNTY JOB OPENINGS THIS WEEK (7/14/24)
Washington County Judge Patrick Deakins is looking for a new Chief of Staff. Here’s more information on that position. It pays quite well: Type: Full Time
lary/Pay Rate:$111,104.05 - $124.992.06 (DOE)
PNew Job Posting: Deputy Veterans Services Officer. Salary/Pay Rate: $20.24 Type: Full time. Must be a military veteran or spouse of a disabled veteran Go here to apply: https://www.washingtoncountyar.gov/Home/Components/JobPosts/Job/4333/25
Please share these job postings.
There you’ll be able to complete an online application, see salary ranges and more.
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THINGS TO KNOW AND THINGS TO DO:
COUNTY ZONING PROPOSAL (ORDINANCE, RULES & REGULATIONS)
PLEASE SEND ME ALL YOUR QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS ABOUT THE NEW ZONING ORDINANCE AND ZONING MAP.
ZONING MAP FOR WASHINGTON COUNTY: The white parcels would be zoned commercial - these mainly follow along state highways and the interstate. The blue parcels would be zoned industrial - these include existing dirt mines and quarries…To see the proposed zoning on the interactive map, select “Layer List” from the top menu and click the box for “County Zoning Map 2024.”
To get a copy of the proposed planning ordinances, please check the Planning Department Ordinances and Regulations page, as shown in the image below.
Here are the links to the zoning districts webmap draft and the planning ordinances draft (PDF also attached).
My email is: ejcoger@gmail.com. My number is 479-306-9994. Please call and/or text.
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WANT TO BECOME INVOLVED?
ATTEND AS MANY MEETINGS OF THE QUORUM COURT AND ITS SUBCOMMITTEES AS YOU CAN. CHECK MY WEBSITE WWW.BETHCOGER.COM FOR DATES AND TIMES.
CONTACT JUDGE DEAKINS AND TELL HIM YOU WANT OUR CRISIS STABILIZATION UNIT TO REMAIN OPEN AND ASK HIM TO GET TO WORK ON FINDING ANOTHER VENDOR BECAUSE WE CAN DO HARD THINGS.
Continue to ask Judge Deakins to appoint members to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee and get that group up and running! This is too important. If you haven’t called, please do so, or send email, or go by the courthouse and speak to the judge in person. WHAT’S NEXT? WHY WON’T JUDGE DEAKINS APPOINT MEMBERS AND ACTIVATE THIS COMMITTEE AND LET IT GET TO WORK? ASK HIM.
Contact your JP and set up a time to meet them for coffee or just to get together. Become a regular voice in their ear and urge them to support criminal justice reform and be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. That’s how I got started advocating to the court back in 2019. CAN YOU TAKE AN HOUR OR TWO AND MEET WITH YOUR JP AND SHARE YOUR CONCERNS OR COMMENTS, OR WHATEVER YOUR THOUGHTS ARE.
Share this Newsletter with your friends and neighbors!
Write letters to the editor. letters@nwadg.com
Do you have a court date in Benton or Washington County? Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition (AJRC) has a program to train volunteers to offer practical, procedural, and emotional support during your court hearing. From a reassuring check-in before your court date, to standing by your side on the day of court. Everyone deserves to be heard, supported, and understood.
To request a Court Support Volunteer, please fill out the Courtside Support Request Form. Questions? Concerns? Reach out to us at arkansasjusticereform@gmail.org.
To become a volunteer, contact AJRC at 479-345-1150 or the above email. They provide training that will help make you a great Court Support Volunteer.
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