Crawford County Quorum Court

Fanning the Flames of Curiosity

Tonight I was honored to go with Ann, a concerned citizen, to her first ever Quorum Court meeting. She had reached out from a volunteer meeting and expressed an interest in observing and learning about the quorum court close to where she lived. We had been planning this for the past month. She was super excited to go.

I’m a sucker for people who are on fire to learn more about local government, so I drove down from Fayetteville to go with her.

I’m not even going to get into this debate today, but there it is.

I had been interested in the Crawford County Quorum Court ever since I heard about their county library struggles. Three moms in Crawford County complained to the Quorum Court about the content of about 240 books in the county library. The county library “compromised” by moving the books to a “segregated” section. And then patrons of the library complained and filed a lawsuit that stated the library was interfering with their First Amendment rights by restricting access to the books. NPR said of U.S. District Court Judge P.K. Holmes’ ruling:

He said government officials cannot remove books that they personally disagree with. He referenced Texas v. Johnson, a case ruling that it is a person's First Amendment right to burn the American flag.

That’s a lot of intrigue for one Quorum Court. But then it got more complicated because it seems the Quorum Court had incurred $420,000 in legal fees during the conflict. And that didn’t count the $41,000 severance package to the former library director who left in the wake of the conflict. It’s fascinating to read about the succession of the director and chair of the library board and you can do that with the Arkansas Times.

And the last I checked, the library system and the Quorum Court are still trying to determine who will pay those legal fees. Chris Keith, the Crawford County Judge says the court doesn’t have the money to cover the fees.

And since this conflict, there are new kiosks available for library patrons to access resources to navigate the legal system. This initiative is through Arkansas Access to Justice Foundation which I was excited to learn about. Now I need to go look for one of these kiosks, so I can explore the resources.

That is the old business that got me interested in Crawford County Quorum Court. I was like, what in the world is going on down there with those guys! I need to go investigate.

Today, with Ann, we got to see some great stuff in the Crawford County Quorum Court. We introduced ourselves to the County Judge, Chris Keith before we went in.

They started out with a prayer and the pledge of allegiance. I don’t know if all the Quorum Courts in Arkansas do this, but they also do it in Washington County. It seems to me to be a violation of the separation of church and state, but I don’t know enough about the law to be able to say for sure. The culture seems to support it.

After the Court went through their budget committee items, they introduced a team from the Mental Health Court. I didn’t even know that Arkansas was progressive enough to have such a thing. I was impressed that this Court which in the past year had lost a lawsuit related to Freedom of Speech and book banning was progressive enough to support a Mental Health Court whose goals were to prevent incarceration and reduce recidivism. You never can tell.

They introduced Judge Candice Settles from the Mental Health Court. She talked about trying to prevent repeat offenders. Patty Thrift, the Mental Health court counselor spoke, then Vicky, the addiction counselor. She stated that many of the people who come before the court have used alcohol and meth from the age of 11. She detailed the depression, anxiety, and PTSD screenings they perform. They called themselves the ACT team. Assertive Community Treatment.

At this point, they introduced Kendra Weld, the probation officer. She came to court with a side arm. The sheriff in court also had a sidearm. This was fascinating to me since there was a police officer at the front door with an x-ray machine and a metal detector. I guess they allow some people to carry firearms in the courthouse.

They also introduced Kevin Holmes, prosecuting attorney. He described what they do as administering “justice with a hug.” Again, this is fascinating to me considering some of the comments I have heard from JPs in the past who are okay with taking federal money to deport Marshallese, and who have in the past lumped all people in the prisons into the category of hardened criminals. As a mental health professional and a public health nerd, the science and the numbers favor prevention over incarceration, and I’m tickled to know that this program is happening in Crawford County and now is being newly introduced into Washington County. I’m pretty sure if I got up and talked at a Quorum Court about “justice with a hug” they would tell me to get the hell out and never come back. But I’ve obviously misjudged some folks, and pleasantly so.

There are 5 phases of this Mental Health court before participants can get their records sealed. “The most gratifying is seeing when it clicks and they decide to go a different direction in their lives,” said Judge Settle.

The public defender with the group said, “They have to want it more than we do.”

Sage Small, the court coordinator said many of these participants are unhoused, have no job, and are not food stable. They need life skills training. Peer support specialists who have been sober for over a year also help with this process. Ms. Small says they are reducing recidivism, improving public safety, and improving lives.

Judge Settle said that they operate best with about 20 people in the program at one time and that most of the funding comes from the SAMHSA federal grant for Mental Health Services. With all the executive orders kicking around about federal grants, I hope Arkansas doesn’t lose the funding for this.

She encouraged people to look into the All Rise Conference, a national conference. She also mentioned Specialty Court Conference in April for the state. Their website doesn’t appear to have the calendar updated.

At the end of the presentation, they showed an interview with a recent graduate, Jacob Tolbert, after his graduation. All of the JPs were smiling and appreciative and the crowd broke out in applause. I felt like I was in an alternate universe because, as I said, I have seen many people in Arkansas have a very callous attitude toward the incarcerated population and the idea of prevention.

Ann recognized the name of one of the JPs and introduced herself. They shared stories about the woman’s daughter and their connections in the community. On the way home Ann and I discussed all the things available to follow up on:

• Mental Health Court as an Observer every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. at the Court Annex, located at 220 South 4th Street, Van Buren, Arkansas.

• Robert’s Rules of Order

• Crawford County Library System to talk to the librarians about the recent lawsuit and see the new justice kiosks at the Van Buren Public Library.

• Her relationship with the JP on the Crawford County Court and subsequent Quorum Court Meetings.

• Requesting the budget from the County Clerk. Filing a Freedom of Information Request if necessary.

• Learning about the other committees with Crawford County and attending those meetings.

• And I’m still not sure where the Quorum Court is in its quest to avoid paying for those legal fees from the Freedom of Speech lawsuit. The last news article I found about it was at the end of the year. I’m sure Chris Keith would know the answer to that question, although it might be an uncomfortable topic.

• Ann needs friends to go with her to Quorum Court in Crawford County because that prolly is too far for me to be driving every month, even though there is more than enough going on down there to keep a human interested. If you live in Crawford County, you might get connected with Ann and learn about the court together. Super fun.

I hope Ann isn’t overwhelmed. A lot was going on at that meeting. But so much fun to learn about. #KeepShowingUp