In This Issue
Long-time advocate for county govern- ment to retire from AAC.
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Inside Look AAC board profiles .......................................................................................................27
AAC expands its headquarters, welcomes state sheriff’s association.
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Lafayette County chief deputy killed ........................................................................35 Collectors gather in Mountain View ..........................................................................41 Circuit Clerks and Assessors meet ...........................................................................42 County Clerks hold continuing education session .................................................43 Coroners plan game-changing program ..................................................................43 Treasurers topics include trends in public service .................................................44 Legislative session on agenda for judges ...............................................................45 AAC staff profile ...........................................................................................................48
Departments From the Director’s Desk ..............................................................................................7
Boone County Clerk makes voter technol- ogy a priority.
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President’s Perspective ................................................................................................9 Attorney General Opinions .........................................................................................11 FAQs: Governmental Affairs .......................................................................................12 From the Governor .......................................................................................................13 County Law Update ......................................................................................................14 Savings Times 2 ...........................................................................................................15 Research Corner ..........................................................................................................16 Seems to Me .................................................................................................................20
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Features Three counties issue electronic bills to taxpayers .................................................28
Museum honors veterans from Bradley County .....................................................36
Cover Notes: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Proposed by the General Assembly in 1983 and dedicated in 1987, artist John Deering sculpted the central figure of a soldier. Behind him, granite slabs bear the names of Arkansans killed or mortally wounded during the conflict in Vietnam. The U.S. and POW/MIA flags fly overhead. Memorial Day, however, honors the service of all men and women who died defending our country. Originally called Decoration Day, it was established in 1868 to honor the Civil War dead. Following World War I, Memorial Day was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars. The U.S. Congress in 1971 de- clared it a national holiday, to be observed on the last Monday of May.
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very year in May, we remember those who made the ulti- mate sacrifice for our nation. Monuments to these heroes dot the Arkansas State Capitol grounds. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, pictured on the cover, is in the southeast corner.
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(AAC Photos / Scott Perkins)
It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.
— Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf ” 5
AAC F A M I L Y F R I E N D S » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » »
Wes Folwer, AAC governmental affairs director to retire in June.
Longtime county man makes the turn Legacy includes stronger, more efficient government
he was an advocate for Arkansas counties say Fowler displays the dedication and knowledge that only a natural leader possesses. “Wes Fowler is not a dabbler in county government; he is a county
A said.
married Rose Qualls. Te couple, which has three daughters, a stepson and six grandchildren, will celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary this summer. Fowler worked at Tyson Foods and National Home Center before
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owler was born in Twin Falls, Idaho. His parents moved back home to Madison County when he was 4. After high school, he
government connoisseur,” said Eddie Jones, former executive director of the Association of Arkansas Counties. Fowler’s accomplishments range from computerizing the Madison County Clerk’s office to ushering early voting legislation through the state legislature. “Everything he touched in county government, he left it in better
shape,” said AAC Executive Director Chris Villines. Fowler will retire in June from his position as AAC’s government rela- tions director, a position he has held since January 2011. Still, he says, he expects to keep his finger on the pulse of the counties. “I hope to still receive some calls from elected county officials,” he
t first glance, it might seem that Wes Fowler’s interest in county government could have been sparked by his family’s legacy of service to Madison County. But those who worked alongside him during the 27 years
becoming a custom homebuilder and licensed residential contractor. He also had poultry houses, and his family owns a nine-hole golf course. He made the transition to county government in 1987. It might seem a natural progression considering that his family has been active in county government for six decades. “Up until I left, there had been a Fowler in the courthouse since the early 1950s,” he said. His father served on the quorum court, and two of his cousins served
as treasurer and assessor. Fowler served 10 years as county clerk. During that time, he served as legislative chair and in officer positions in the County Clerks Association. He was in line for association president when he was elected county judge in 1998. Likewise active in the County Judges Association of Arkansas, Fowler
served as legislative chair, first and second vice-president, then president. He also served on the AAC Board of Directors and as AAC legislative chair. When he did not seek re-election in 2010, he joined the AAC staff. “Wes Fowler has the kind of background that makes him a very astute
AAC staff member — he has ‘in-the-field’ training. Having served many years as both a county clerk and a county judge, he has great practical knowledge of county government operations, and he knows the law governing those operations. Even before becoming a member of the AAC staff he was very instrumental in helping guide the AAC legislative package through various sessions of the Arkansas General Assembly,” Jones said.
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AAC F A M I L Y & F R I E N D S » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » »
Left: An architectural ren- dering depicts the completed project. Middle: Framing for the new addition goes up. Bottom left: Workers lay the footing. Bottom right: Scaffolding surrounds the nearly completed wing.
AAC expands headquarters, welcomes sheriff’s association
Te Association of Arkansas Counties Board of Directors decided last spring to expand AAC facilities so the organization could continue to grow its programs and services for Arkansas counties. Te expansion will soon take the form of a two-story, $1.75 million, 5,000-square-foot addition on the east side of the exist- ing AAC building. It will house 16 offices and two conference rooms. It also will allow for minor-redesign of the east wing of the existing AAC building enabling those spaces to be utilized more efficiently. Te board of directors also approved a lease agreement with the Arkansas Sher-
iff’s Association for a portion of the expansion. Te ASA will move this summer into its new headquarters. Te board of directors has made the AAC a very strong enterprise, and their focus on providing more to the counties of Arkansas is evidenced in their leader- ship and commitment to the future.
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PROFILE
“My passion has been elec- tions. I like technology. I want to make them easier and more acces- sible for people to vote.”
— Crystal Graddy, Boone County Clerk
Top: Crystal Graddy with a photo ID camera and printer.
Right: Crystal Graddy works with Merrissa Bridges in the Boone County Clerk’s office.
Improving voter technology a priority for Boone clerk
By Rob MOritz For County Lines
clerk’s office, Graddy has embraced everything from an electronic voting machine pilot program to an initiative that allows Boone County voters to cast a ballot at any precinct they wish. State legislators took notice of the latter initiative, adopting a similar statewide measure during last year’s legislative session. “My passion has been elections. I like technology. I want to use it to make it easier and more accessible for people to vote,” Graddy said. Boone County, which borders Missouri in north Arkansas, has a population of nearly 37,000, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. Graddy’s family moved there from Oklahoma when she was 7 years old. A graduate of Valley Springs High School, just southeast of Harrison, Graddy went to work in the clerk’s office in 1997, when David Witty was clerk. “I’ve held every position in the office,” Graddy said. Her first job was working probate. She was elected county clerk
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everaging the latest technologies to improve services to residents may well be Boone County Clerk Crystal Graddy’s specialty. Indeed, in the 17 years that she has served in the
in 2006. Six years later she asked the Boone County Quorum Court to change the county’s election law so residents could vote at any of the county’s precincts. Graddy said voters had complained to her both before and after the 2010 redistricting about the distance they had to travel to their polling places. Even before redistricting one resident had to vote 15 miles away
from his home, even though there was a polling place just 5 miles away. Another voter — a woman who relied on her daughter to drive her to the precinct where they both voted — found that after redistricting she no longer shared a polling place with her daughter. In fact, her new polling place was several miles away. “I thought, ‘How do I make everybody happy?” Graddy said. Since all precincts in the county had electronic books, Graddy began asking, “Why can’t they vote wherever they want to?” Quorum court members agreed that voting should be more con-
venient, and they unanimously passed a law allowing voters to cast a ballot at any precinct in the county. Boone County Justice of the Peace James Widner, who sponsored
Graddy’s proposal before the quorum court, said he saw first hand during the 2012 election that the initiative had made voting easier for people.
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COUNTY OFFICIAL
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