BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's justices of the peace on Jan. 26 declared two seats on the Quorum Court vacant.
The Quorum Court approved declaring the District 3 and District 5 positions vacant. The action will be sent to the governor's office, and Gov. Asa Hutchinson will fill the seats for the remainder of the terms by appointment. The appointees will not be eligible to run for those seats in the 2018 election.
Mary Jane Comstock was elected to the District 3 seat but notified the county after the Nov. 8 general election she would not serve. Jay Harrison, who was elected to the seat in 2014, will continue to serve until the seat is filled.
Kevin Harrison was elected to the District 5 seat and resigned the post after the election when he decided to take a job with the Benton County Sheriff's Office. Since Harrison was the sitting justice of the peace, that seat will be vacant until someone is appointed to serve.
The justices of the peace also approved a temporary plan to deal with catastrophic health situations by allowing employees to donate unused sick days to employees who meet certain criteria and have used all their vacation days, sick days and comp days.
Prosecutor Nathan Smith asked the Quorum Court to adopt a sick leave plan now to benefit Bruce Rutherford, an investigator for his office who has been dealing with serious health issues. Smith said the temporary measure will allow employees to donate their time to a specific employee, but isn't limited to Rutherford and other employees can benefit.
Barb Ludwig, human resources administrator, told the justices of the peace earlier the county scrapped the previous plan after questions were raised about possible abuse of the system. She said the new plan will incorporate elements of the federal Family Medical Leave Act, including a requirement for an employee to obtain a doctor's certification of the illness, to be eligible.
Shirley Sandlin, justice of the peace for District 8, said the county will be working on a permanent plan with provisions for a sick leave "bank" for eligible employees. Sandlin said the Personnel Committee will discuss the plan at a meeting at 6 p.m. March 7.
The Committee of the Whole meeting for February was moved to 6 p.m. Feb. 16. Additionally, the justices of the peace agreed to have a special Committee of the Whole at the 6 p.m. Feb. 28 meeting to discuss the courts facility.
The justices of the peace also voted to move the Quorum Courts meeting in March to March 30.
General News on 02/08/2017