County officials back pay plan changes

Proposal designed to provide more freedom within budget limits

BENTONVILLE — Benton County’s justices of the peace on Monday recommended personnel policy changes to give elected officials more flexibility in hiring and setting employee pay.

The Personnel Committee agreed to remove some restrictions in hire-in rates and promotion increases tying those amounts to the midpoints of salary ranges for the different pay grades. For hire-in rates or increases exceeding those rates, elected officials had to obtain Quorum Court approval.

The justices of the peace said Monday they want to give elected officials more freedom within the overall limit of their budgets.

“If it’s in their budget, I don’t care how much they pay the person,” Joel Edwards, justice of the peace for District 25, said during the discussion. Edwards said requiring elected officials to obtain Quorum Court approval to exceed the midpoint constraints just added another step to the personnel process.

Sheriff Shawn Holloway endorsed the changes.

“For a manager or an elected officials it would be a great tool to have,” Holloway said.

Adriane Carr, justice of the peace for District 12, said the changes would allow for better management without having the justices of the peace “nit-pick” every decision.

“I agree we should give the elected officials the ability to manage their budgets,” Carr said. “I think as elected officials they’ll do their jobs.”

Carr said she’ll expect the

elected officials to exercise their new authority with care and she added she wants to see fewer requests for budget changes in the middle of the year.

County Judge Barry Moehring said he supports the change but understands the Quorum Court will continue to exercise oversight on the budget.

“It’s a policy change, the expectation is we’ll still fall within the budget,” Moehring said. “This does give the elected officials a great deal of flexibility. We’ve got to be held accountable for it.”

The committee also reviewed a model policy from the Association of Arkansas Counties for including medical marijuana in the drugfree and alcohol-free workplace policy. The recommended changes essentially deal with medical marijuana as the policy does prescription drugs.

The policy restricts employees in “safety-sensitive positions,” which are defined as jobs “where impairment may present a clear and present risk to co-workers or other persons.”

Safety-sensitive positions include those where the employee may be required to carry a firearm; do life-threatening procedures; work with confidential information; drive

a vehicle or operate machinery; and others. Those employees are required to notify supervisors if they are prescribed a medication that might cause drowsiness or otherwise impair the employee’s ability to safely do their job.