County website evolving

BENTONVILLE — Benton County’s website is taking on a new look as the county tries to evolve into a onestop shop for online information.

“We’re going to be adding new things at least weekly as we grow this,” said Darryl Marks, project manager for the county’s information systems department.

Some of the new elements are already up and running, as the county has added ways to navigate the website. Anyone scanning the page can go to county news items, a calendar of events, a selection of county forms and an offering of links of interest with a single mouse click.

Sidney Reynolds, director of information systems for the county, said part of the overhaul is trying to make access to information easy for people through a variety of methods.

“Our goal in what we’re rolling out now is to make information accessible to the public - quicker and faster,” Reynolds said. “We’ve had some feedback over the years that it’s sometimes hard to get information if you don’t know how the county works. Now you can get to different offices from the directory or from the services page. If you’re looking for information on getting a passport you might not know you have to go to the circuit clerk’s office. Now, if you click on passport information in the services menu, it takes you to that information on the circuit clerk’s page.”

Reynolds said the county is also trying to offer links to services from other government agencies and entities. Clicking on the button for “Forms” offers a link to information on getting a passport by mail from a federal government web page.

“We’re trying to make it where people can get information quickly on the web,” Reynolds said. “They might need information while they’re at home, after hours or on weekends. If we can provide them with this information, it may save them a phone call or a trip. And if we can help someone find what they need online it saves the people in our county offices time and they can better help the people who do need to come in.”

County Judge Bob Clinard said he’s interested in utilizing technology in any way the county can to improve delivery of services. He said his main concern is making the county website “userfriendly.”

“The main thrust of the website is when people go to that site they’re able to find the answer or the information they need,” Clinard said. “But it needs to be easy for them to find those answers.”

Fire Marshal Will Hanna said the recent improvements have made it easier for him to provide information and to receive it. Hanna said he’s able to monitor conditions in the county, for example, and can change the burn ban status posted on the website himself while he’s out in the field.

“All I need is Internet access and I can make that change,” he said. “That’s a recent change in just the last couple of weeks and it’s great.”

Hanna also said he’s receiving useful information from the public through a feature on the fire marshal’s page allowing people to report illegal burning and other violations.

“There’s a spot on the page where it says ‘Report violators by clicking this picture’,” Hanna said. “I’m getting four or five tips a week and at least 50 percent of them are good information, things that I have to follow up on. I also get a lot of information on things that don’t necessarily fall under my purview but I can forward them to the Health Department or to our Environmental Services. It really has helped me a lot.”

Marks said the county’s “News” link will grow as heand others in the information systems department work with elected officials and department heads to bring them up to speed on how the system works. The goal is for every department to be able to post news and information, he said.

“What I always ask them when we’re meeting about the website is ‘What makes your phone ring? What makes people come in to your office?’,” Marks said. “That’s the information we want to make available.”