Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Kuilan running for Quorum Court
BENTONVILLE — Susie Kuilan, a Democrat, will face one of two Republican candidates for the District 11 seat on the Benton County Quorum Court.
Kuilan will be on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. She will face the winner of the May 22 Republican Party primary contest between Kelli Latham of Gentry and Dustin Todd of Decatur.
Bob Bland, the Republican first-term incumbent, chose not to run for re-election. Justices of the peace are paid on a per meeting basis — $230.51 for Quorum Court and Committee of the Whole meetings and $144.08 for other committees they are members of. Justices of the peace serve two-year terms.
Kuilan, 51, has lived in Benton County since 2010 and in District 11 since 2013. She is dean for Strategic Security and Protection Management for Henley-Putnam University, a San Jose, Calif.-based online university. She also has served in the Army Reserve for more than 30 years.
Kuilan said she has always been interested in politics and recently made the decision to run for office.
“I spent a significant portion of my adult life in Louisiana and wanted to run for local political office because I thought that was where I could make the most impact,” she said. “When I moved to No r t hwe s t Arkansas, I put that on the back burner. When friends asked me to consider running for justice of the peace that rekindled in me what I had wanted to do in the past.”
Kuilan said she is concerned about infrastructure issues in the county and about the proposed $ 30 million courts building. She said she knows it will take time and study to get fully informed on all the issues.
“I know infrastructure is an important part of what the Quorum Court does,” she said. “I’m not there yet, but I will get there. I know the courthouse is a big topic of discussion. I have not dug into that enough to know where I stand or what District 11 wants.”