House State Agencies and Gov't Affairs March 6, 2013
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Bills discussed (1)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
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HJR1006
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HJR1006”
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Pre-2017 bill |
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Speaker 1
0:00
bills in nor are they jumping up to necessarily run theirs but we're going to hear this afternoon as many as we can and then Monday afternoon upon adjournment we are going to do it again and next Wednesday we're going to do it and hopefully we'll get the bulk of them done we are not going to I'm not going to see any motions on these because we need to hear all of them before we decide which of the ones we want this particular year the house has the
opportunity to refer two of them and the Senate will refer one so we're gonna do our work as the house they're gonna do their work as the Senate and then when we're done we're gonna meet together jointly so today what we're gonna hear again no motions we're just gonna hear the presentations on them and we'll go from there after we're done oh I see two more members coming in I also see former speaker Robert Moore if you want to wave in the in the room thank you okay let's
get started you know what I'm gonna just start with who is in the room ready to run their amendment I'm gonna give you first up Dan Douglas recognize
Speaker 3
1:23
you at the end of the table. I'm assuming that
Representative Dan M. Douglas
Unverified
1:27
is HJR 1006? Yes, it is, Madam Chair, and thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you,
committee members. 1006, constables. The Arkansas Constitution
put constables in place throughout the state, and they have been a tremendous asset to the state of Arkansas providing law enforcement. That started in 1874. Times have changed since then. Counties have grown. There are some counties, whenever I first came down here, let me start by this. When I first came down here, I had a bill drafted or in mind to abolish constables statewide. After talking to people and listening to the concerns of some of the
more rural counties I decided that was not a good idea so we came up with 1006 here which allows the quorum courts of each county if they so choose to put it to a vote of people the people to abolish the counts constables in that county only so it can be county by county well why would we want to abolish constables we have some good ones out there we have some very good ones that
do a good job free law enforcement they're not paid the problem is some counties have more law enforcement and they don't need the constables Benton County has close to 500 law enforcement officers we've outgrown the need for the constables in Benton County some of the problems are under current law the only way counties can eliminate the office of constable is to reduce the number of townships, because
the constables are township officers, not county offices. So far, since 1980, 21 counties have felt they had a problem with some constables, and they have reduced the number of townships. So 21 out of 75 have been dealing with the constable issue the only way they knew how, which was to reduce the number of townships, some down to one township.
There's another problem. Constables are elected officials to the township, just like we are representatives. There is no background check for these constables elected. After they're elected, there's some training that is required, but there is never a background check on them before they are elected. In today's age, with sexual predators, with crazy people, and I'm not painting constables as crazy people,
but we have heard instances of where some constables have gone way past their boundaries. They have the power, basically, of the sheriff in their township to pull people over, to arrest people, and with no background check, that is a scary situation. Currently, in the state of Arkansas, there are 287 constable positions that are open. That means nobody has ran for those positions.
So what does that mean? It means any nut case out there that wanted to pay the filing fees could go file and probably be unopposed and be elected to the position of constable and have the power of a sheriff or a law enforcement officer. And to me, that is scary. I feel like this bill makes good sense to allow the counties that no longer feel they need constables to put it to a vote of the people. and the counties that feel like they need them, they can still retain them.
It's individual for each county. It's going back to
Representative Mary P. "Prissy" Hickerson
Unverified
5:46
any questions. Representative Hickerson. Thank you, Madam Chair. Representative Douglas, does this have the support of
your county, the county Arkansas Association in the Arkansas Association of Counties it
Representative Dan M. Douglas
Unverified
5:59
has the support of Arkansas Association of Counties the support of the Arkansas
Speaker 15
6:04
Sheriff's Association also okay thank you
Representative Nate Bell
Unverified
6:14
representative bill representative Douglas is you mentioned that there's no background check required for constables is there a background check required to be a county
Speaker 15
6:24
sheriff in Arkansas no there's not that's there's not the one of
Representative Dan M. Douglas
Unverified
6:30
the differences is although sheriffs are not supervised either but they have an entire law
enforcement brigade around them or her department and they are in the county's eye all the time. Constables are out there basically unsupervised because they have no supervision over them. They are a township official, and they have complete control and power over that township, and nobody's supervising them. That's another one of the problems here. With all respect, I serve three
Representative Nate Bell
Unverified
7:03
terms as a constable, and I have to tell you that you
do answer to somebody, you answer to voters. And if you do ridiculous things, voters are going to hold you accountable. So I guess I just generally reject that claim, but I understand where
Representative Dan M. Douglas
Unverified
7:19
you're coming from. Well, and with all due respect, I understand where you're coming from. They are responsible to the voters, as we all are, but it only takes one
time before the next election for some bad incidences to occur I appreciate that I've seen a lot
Representative Nate Bell
Unverified
7:42
of bad instances all levels of law enforcement and clearly there are rogue people but I'm gonna trust the vote of the people
Speaker 26
7:54
personally thank you very much any other questions representative Wagner thanks madam chair just
Speaker 15
7:59
out of curiosity what counties down to one township I believe them I have to get this list out here I believe I see Pulaski has two I think Craighead no
Representative Dan M. Douglas
Unverified
8:15
got me off guard there well Fulton County has one Marion County has one Park has to there's several of them that have gone down from two down to two or three townships thank you any other questions from the committee members
Speaker 3
8:35
we have a couple members of the public that have signed up to speak on this bill Vincent Scarlata did
Speaker 1
8:42
I pronounce that correctly thank you members
Speaker 32
8:58
identify yourself yes madam chairman my name is Vincent Scarlata I'm the
Speaker 34
9:06
constable of Oak Grove Township my name is Dennis Mosley I'm the constable of Sherlock Township in Cleveland County also I'm a retired law enforcement officer and after 31 years impressively the president of the Constable Association and
Speaker 3
9:21
I notice both you gentlemen are signed up to speak against the bill pardon me the
Speaker 39
9:27
amendment yes madam chairman thank you go ahead as I was saying I'm the Constable Oak
Speaker 32
9:34
Road Township which is located in Logan Oak County just south of Cabot I've been the constable there for 20 years and in most of that time I've been associated with the loan the Arkansas Constables Association presently I'm the vice president of that association also in as most of us know constables receive little or no compensation and my county where I should get a dollar a year and so we'll be eligible for workings comp and also
in the insurance in my other life so I can pay the food and light bills at home I am the staff research and development engineer for the Remington Arms Company which is also located in Lona now I've had some prepared comments here but I'm afraid that the representative Douglas represented this differently than I thought he would so I would like to address some of his comments if I if I may and instead of my prepared my prepared comments okay it
was brought up and of course it was recruited by one of the members here that we don't have that background checks for constables well that's true and as was brought out no elected official after has kind of background checks the Arkansas Constable Association would not be canceled would not be against the law that required background checks for all constables of course that would you know you're going to get into the issues with the state about THAT, BUT TO ADDRESS THAT, WE DON'T HAVE ANY PROBLEM ABOUT THAT AT ALL. THE ARKANSAS CONSTABLES ASSOCIATION IS VERY ACTIVE IN TRYING TO REGULATE CONSTABLES.
WHEN REPRESENTATIVE DARYL PACE WAS DOWN HERE IN 07, HE INTRODUCED LEGISLATION THAT ENDED UP BEING ACT 841, IF I REMEMBER THE NUMBER CORRECTLY, WHICH REQUIRED THAT ALL CONSTABLES ARE TRAINED, AND THAT'S WHAT THE ARKANSAS CONSTABLES ASSOCIATION STRIVES TO DO. I was mentioned that some counties are reducing townships to reduce the number of constables and of course they presently have that power so they wouldn't need this legislation to do that if they wanted to do that.
There's no interest in my county of doing that. My county judge and my sheriff are totally in agreement that they want to keep the constables in our county. I've talked to them both many times. I work with both of them many times and so that's not true. I would like to just say a couple things. Every time we read about a constable in the paper, the national paper, I mean the state paper, not the local papers, it's always in a negative context. And I would just like to tell you a couple things that a couple constables have done lately, just so you'll understand that we still need constables in this state.
I want to first talk about a constable down in just outside of Lowenow County, Constable Carpenter. on christmas eve in a blinding snowstorm he answered a suicide call and he described why he answered is because i was five minutes away from it and the deputy sheriff was 20 minutes away from it well he got there first he managed to uh secure the crime scene he got the suspect in handcuffs who turns out later was was a police officer and of course the family was greatly appreciated what what he did and he's been in local news many times for being an asset to his
community and we've read the Phillips County about the rogue constable out there who lied on his application to be a constable and has had felony convictions when he was finally arrested he also had several illegal firearms in his in his possession well it turns out the two constables in Phillips County constable wheel and constable Hill were the two people that really instigated that investigation that led to that man's arrest I'd like to mention that all three of these constables are members of our association in fact I'll even brag
on myself just a little bit the last month on the 20th I answered a domestic disturbance call and that deputy and I got there at the same time the man was very competitive he was very dangerous he was high in a controlled substance we both tased him we pepper sprayed him it had no effect on him the two of us could barely contain that man it turned it ended up having six deputies on one constable and five deputies actually one constable three deputies and two state policemen one scene to control that man and put him in our unit to get him to
detention now I firmly believe in the deputy that I assisted that evening firmly believes because I talked to him that if I had not been there he would have had to shoot that man so that's why you know we can say oh we don't need constables we have police departments but we need constables now addressing giving the voters the right to do away with constables if they so choose the The reason I'm afraid of that is because many, many counties, the population is dominated in cities and towns, and they have police departments, and very often that constables
have a very low profile or no profile in the areas that have their own police department. Well because of the dominance of the population density, we could very possibly have an anti-constable vote where the people in the rural areas would not like that to happen. I would really see that we, and again, in my county, I might have mentioned this before, we have the support of all the elected officials, we're for background checks, we're accountable to the people just like the rest of you folks are, and I would encourage you all who are
elected representatives of the people to not support this joint resolution which very possibly could reduce the number of elected protectors of the people which the constables are one of if I really appreciate the opportunity of able to speak here this morning this afternoon if anybody has any questions I sure try to answer
Speaker 39
15:01
this week thank you mr. Scarlatta do any of
Speaker 3
15:05
the committee members have questions mr. Mosley is that how you pronounced it yes
Speaker 34
15:16
ma'am. Would you like to? Well, in order to enhance Vince's statement, I've been a law enforcement officer for 31 years, and I started out in West Helena. And most of the people I know down there when I was working are in jail now. But that's a different story. But I left West Helena in 91 when I moved to Heber Springs, and I retired after 31 years in 07.
and the comment was made that we have too many police officers well in my profession I have never seen too many police officers have seen that no couldn't be of usefulness and since we are more or less free label in the in the counties and we do offer quite a bit of service no to the counties and to our township that I'm certainly against this bill thank
Speaker 46
16:19
you one more yes you may yes you may yes I forgot what my remark is
Speaker 32
16:27
you'll have excuse me I'm a pretty good engineer and I'm not a bad cop and I'm a health public speaker I can't remember what I was gonna say I really apologize oh yes you know this this this type of legislation and if passed could set us down a slippery slope I think it would set a very bad precedent okay I mean right now we have some people that don't like constables so we're going to propose a constitutional amendment to do away at the OS of constable and let people vote in it next session somebody might not like a sheriff or prosecuting
attorney so we're going to have a constitutional amendment to change the Constitution so they can vote against that office I don't think so in Lowenow County tomorrow if I was to have a vote to do away at the tax collector there's a good chance it would pass but it wouldn't be good for the county and it wouldn't
Speaker 3
17:15
be good for the people in the county thank you thank
Speaker 1
17:20
you committee members do you have any other questions that is all I have for people from the public speaking for this representative Douglas would you like to come back to the table and give any closing comments
Representative Dan M. Douglas
Unverified
17:30
thank you madam chair and you know this is just exactly the reason the testimony of these two gentlemen here there's two constables the reason I've changed the built from originally wanting to do away with all constables to give the counties the option. These are definitely fine examples of good constables, the type we need. But just for example, in Lone Oak County there's 27 constable positions, there's 15 vacancies. There are a lot of these counties, Perry County has 17 positions, 14 vacancies.
a lot of the counties are not utilizing constables anyway. The counties that have reduced the number of townships to reduce the number of constables, we have 21. That's a large percentage of the counties in Arkansas. So I would say that in the counties that don't utilize them or feel they don't need them, it's good policy to do home rule, give it back to the people that county to decide what is best for their individual circumstances and with
Speaker 1
18:41
that I thank you very much I will this is my third term on this committee and I will say you're the first one with the bill that gives home that that writes it that home the people back home can vote on it
Speaker 52
18:56
previously it was just to get rid of the office so that is a change okay and madam chairman I do
Representative Dan M. Douglas
Unverified
19:02
not think that is a good idea the people in the counties are the ones that know more of what they need than we do sitting down here in Little Rock they have a better idea what they need and what their wants and desires are but anyway
Representative Nate Bell
Unverified
19:15
representative bill you have one more question actually point of information madam chair we passed the home rule in 2011 and that's great granted in a little more expansive rights on home rule that's one of the reasons why we're just seeing that in the session thank you any other questions
Representative Bruce Westerman
Unverified
19:35
representative Westerman a question for representative Douglas if he would be open to amending his bill to include tax collectors
Representative Dan M. Douglas
Unverified
19:42
I find that sounds like a wonderful idea but I assume have it on another bill if there are no further questions then
Speaker 1
19:50
thank you for presenting your bill I hope committee members are taking notes or something of the like so when we come back we'll know which ones
Speaker 52
19:59
we're going to vote up which ones we're going to vote down thank you representative Douglas
Speaker 37
20:06
thank you madam sheriff thank you committee okay who else is
Speaker 1
20:14
here to present today okay we're off to a running slow start here's what we're going to do those of
you on the committee I can say it to you since you're sitting here please be prepared to run your amendments next week representative Saban representative Altus and who was the third one representative Shepherd said they'll be prepared to run one of theirs next Wednesday if no one's gonna be prepared on Monday then I'm not gonna call for a meeting on Monday but I'd like it if more can be run please get in touch with Sherry Thomas and let her know you'll be
ready to run yours and representative Hobbs do you have
Representative Debra M. Hobbs
Unverified
21:01
a question can you tell me I know what we did last time on betting the bills and joining with the Senate could just like to me what the procedure please I'm work and I don't mean that obviously
Speaker 50
21:16
I was being flippant I'm taking pain medication for a back injury right
Speaker 1
21:21
now and I'd like to figure out what the injury was all I know is I have the pain from it but we're actually kind of
working out exactly how that's going to happen what the Senate's been doing up to now is they've been vetting theirs as they kind of go along we're gonna do ours in separate committees separate meetings and then at some point we'll come together and have a joint meeting so we're working through there are no set rules there are no rules in writing for this it's kind of a gentleman's agreement and the only rule is that it is a joint committee therefore the Senate and the House vote separately
Representative Debra M. Hobbs
Unverified
22:00
it's my question and do you think I mean do you
see this committee narrowing down the number yes absolutely that's how I I mean what
Speaker 63
22:08
I think yes thank you representative Clemmer I think representative Hobbs got to my question
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified
22:15
we'll narrow it down will we narrow it to two before we go down there we do I am
Speaker 1
22:22
NOT positive of that at this time we will do some narrowing we will be narrowing obviously we're you know off to a running start so we're narrowing pretty quickly aren't we but yes I picture will be narrowing any other questions from the committee if not
Unknown speaker
22:39
But we're going to stand adjourned.
Agenda
HJR1006
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Speaker 1
Speaker 3
Representative Dan M. Douglas
Unverified
Speaker 8
Representative Mary P. "Prissy" Hickerson
Unverified
Speaker 15
Representative Nate Bell
Unverified
Speaker 26
Speaker 32
Speaker 34
Speaker 39
Speaker 46
Speaker 52
Representative Bruce Westerman
Unverified
Speaker 37
Representative Debra M. Hobbs
Unverified
Speaker 50
Speaker 63
Representative Ann V. Clemmer
Unverified