A new Marion County treasurer will be considered when the quorum court meets Tuesday evening at 6 for its regular monthly session. The action is one of four items of business on the brief agenda. The meeting will be held in the Marion County Courthouse.
Action on the treasurer’s position is a result of Ron McPherson’s planned retirement at the end of the month. McPherson has held the treasurer’s position since 2015.
The court will first declare a vacancy in the office of treasurer. The justices will also be asked to appoint Carla Purdome to fill the position to the end of the term on Dec. 31.
In other business, the court will consider two ordinances, one of which would transfer $38,000 from the county’s building improvement fund, with $36,000 to be used for repair of the Annex Building’s roof and the remaining $2,000 for COVID-19 screens.
Under the second ordinance, the court will be asked to approve “easing spending out of county general funds for the rest of 2020” for various offices.
A resolution will be presented to the court authorizing County Judge John Massey to sign a promissory note with First Service Bank for $5,500. The funds are needed to meet a requirement of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality to guarantee the county will be responsible for the clean-up of the solid waste/transfer station in the event it is closed or abandoned.
The minutes from the court’s June meeting reflect the long simmering topic of securing a special prosecutor to review the 2019 audit surfaced again. Justice Talon Vancuren asked County Attorney Sam Pasthing if he had contacted “the proper people” in regard to the assignment of a special prosecutor.
One year ago in June, the court met in a special session for the sole purpose of the audit, primarily focusing on three items in the office of former County Judge Terry Ott found to be in noncompliance with state law and accepted accounting practices.
The quorum courts focus was on the audit finding regarding restricted road funds over three years totaling just under $30,000 being used to pay legal expenses for Ott related to an ethics commission hearing and an appeal in circuit court.
Prior to the special meeting in late June 2019, 14th Judicial District Prosecutor David Ethredge told KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot news the audit findings do not point to alleged criminal activity. Ethredge said he had reviewed the findings and advised county officials he would not pursue action regarding the findings.
He conveyed this information to the quorum court at the special meeting, leaving the justices with the option to consider civil action.
When the court returned to the topic of the audit at its meeting last month, Pasthing said the elected official, meaning Prosecutor Ethredge, must recuse himself before action could be taken regarding a special prosecutor. He said Ethredge had told him he would not recuse himself without a conflict.
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