PCM’s Pope County Info
(with some about surrounding areas)
Channel 4 story and video
July 17, 2019Interesting quirks of the Arkansas Constitution.
July 17, 2019
Quorum Court
July 17, 2019
ALL of the justices will be up for reelection in 2020. If they are opposed by others of the same party, all will appear on the March 2020 primary ballot.
Arkansas County Judges 2018 Procedures Manual
The legislative body of county government is called the quorum court and is composed of 9, 11, 13 or 15 members depending on the population of the county. The quorum court members are called justices of the peace and are elected for two-year terms from districts within the county. These district officials meet each month, more often if necessary, to conduct county business and review ordinances and resolutions for passage. The county judge is the presiding officer over the quorum court without a vote, but with the power of veto. This veto can be overridden with a 3/5ths vote of the total membership of the quorum court.
Arkansas Voter Registration Information
July 14, 2019
Write the letter, Ben!
July 13, 2019
Write the letter!
July 13, 2019
Casino Resort
July 13, 2019
2018-O-42
July 11, 2019**Pope County Local Control for Casino Gaming Amendment of 2018** – amended the Code of Ordinances, Pope County, Arkansas with effective date November 14, 2018
It took me a while to find this. I found it as an attachment to a December 27, 2018 letter from Senator Breanne Davis to Attorney General Leslie Rutledge requesting an opinion on the Pope County ordinance. 
https://media.arkansasonline.com/news/documents/2018/12/28/0093_001.pdf
Rutledge’s response: “I must respectfully decline to render an opinion in response to your questions because of current litigation, the outcome of which could directly affect the issues you have raised. See James Knight v. Jim Ed Gibson, No. 58CV-18-768 (Pope Cir., 4th Div., December 27, 2018). It is the longstanding policy of the Attorney General’s office, as a member of the executive branch, to decline to issue opinions on matters that are pending before the courts,” the attorney general said on Thursday in response to the state senator’s request for an opinion on the casino.
Ordinance 2018-O-42 and the Arkansas Constitution.
July 10, 2019
Here are applicable excerpts from the Arkansas constitution that I think apply to the casino issue.
“… no local legislation shall be enacted contrary to the Constitution or any general law of the State, and any general law shall have the effect of repealing any local legislation which is in conflict therewith.”
“Fifteen per cent of the legal voters of any municipality or county may order the referendum, or invoke the initiative upon any local measure. In municipalities the number of signatures required upon any petition shall be computed upon the total vote cast for the office of mayor at the last preceding general election; in counties upon the office of circuit clerk.”
Election. All measures initiated by the people whether for the State, county, city or town, shall be submitted only at the regular elections, either State, congressional or municipal, but referendum petitions may be referred to the people at special elections to be called by the proper official, and such special elections shall be called when fifteen per cent of the legal voters shall petition for such special election, and if the referendum is invoked as to any measure passed by a city or town council, such city or town council may order a special election.
Majority. Any measure submitted to the people as herein provided shall take effect and become a law when approved by a majority of the votes cast upon such measure, and not otherwise, and shall not be required to receive a majority of the electors voting at such election. Such measures shall be operative on and after the thirtieth day after the election at which it is approved, unless otherwise specified in the Act.
Self-Executing. This section shall be self-executing, and all its provisions shall be treated as mandatory, but laws may be enacted to facilitate its operation. No legislation shall be enacted to restrict, hamper or impair the exercise of the rights herein reserved to the people.
Ordinance 2018-O-42
July 10, 2019
Pope County Ordinance No. 2018-0-42 is — at least in part — probably unconstitutional. The requirement to have “a majority of the registered voters of Pope County” authorize the judge and/or quorum court to issue a letter of support for casino approvals violates the provisions of the Arkansas constitution.
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Pope County Ordinance No. 2018-0-42 passed with a vote of 12,209 to 5,728 (total vote 17,937) yet would require a much higher total vote to authorize a letter of support for a casino. That requirement violates the majority approval requirement of the Arkansas constitution.
From the AR constitution: “Any measure submitted to the people as herein provided shall take effect and become a law when approved by a majority of the votes cast upon such measure, and not otherwise, and shall not be required to receive a majority of the electors voting at such election.”
in paragraph 3.1 of the Pope County ordinance, it states if such election was to be called, it would require “a majority of the registered voters of Pope County,” not simply a majority of votes cast.
From a March 29, 2019 article in the Arkansas Times: To put this into perspective, there are 34,792 registered voters in Pope County, meaning 17,397 voters would have to come out to an election, and all 17,397 would have to vote one way. Taking into account only 18,051 people voted in the last general election, you can easily see this is a threshold which can never be attained.
This post was originally published on Facebook July 10, 2019.