The situation in Jefferson County, Arkansas, has been challenging with its quorum court failing to pass a budget for 2025.
This has led to a significant issue where county employees haven’t been paid since January 1, 2025. In response, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Senate Bill 182 into law, which allows local governments to operate under the previous year’s budget if they fail to pass a new one.
This emergency legislation ensures that county operations can continue, and crucially, employees will be paid based on the prior year’s budget until a new one is agreed upon.
However, certain restrictions apply, including that the county judge and justices of the peace won’t receive salaries or per diem payments.
This move is especially important for Jefferson County, where disputes between the county judge and quorum court members have led to the current stalemate.
Governor Sanders emphasized the need to prevent local governments from facing operational shutdowns due to budgetary deadlocks, providing a temporary solution to the county’s financial crisis.
This law is set to take immediate effect, and it could have lasting implications for how other counties address similar budgetary issues in the future.