Jefferson County Quorum Court members at standstill with County Judge

Jefferson County, Arkansas – Accusations, name-calling, and internal strife are commonplace in Jefferson County Quorum Court sessions.

“Not mean but sick,” Alfred Carroll, Justice Of The Peace, said. “Not irresponsible, but sick. I would hope that you all pray for the county judge.”

Elected authorities talked about Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson’s management of the county’s affairs during a press conference.

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Justice Lloyd Franklin Jr., said. “If it were a dictionary, it would have his picture right there beside it.”

Among their many lists of grievances is Judge Robinson’s abrupt termination of the meetings. To prevent members from entering, he was locking the quorum court meeting room.
He is charged with declining to approve claims for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office totaling close to $300,000.

He is accused by the justices of intimidating the members by asking the black Muslim group to provide security for the gathering. Additionally, they assert that the Judge has denied the quorum court’s right to legal representation while using roughly $350,000 in public monies to pay for cases against him.

“It’s a total abuse of power,” Justice Franklin said. “When you have a quorum court that doesn’t have any legal representation, where do we go?”

“Exactly. According to the Arkansas constitution, one branch of government can not do things to impede the other branch of government from doing its job,” Justice Carroll said.

Workers in Jefferson County contacted Seven On Your Side after not receiving payment for their work. Members of quorum court inform us that several hundred staff were not paid on time because Judge Gerald Robinson twice refused to sign the payroll.

Workers informed us they were afraid of Judge Robinson’s reprisals and would only speak with us if we withheld their identities.

“I believe he should resign,” A county employee said. “He’s not able to do the duties as county judge and not carrying out the best interest of the employees and his constituents. It’s not everybody’s problem. Whoever is having the issue, that’s who you need to direct it towards.”

The quality of life for taxpayers is being negatively impacted by the squabbling outside of meetings, as elected officials claim that miles of potholes on multiple county roads demonstrate. We made multiple calls to the office of Judge Robinson, requesting an interview regarding his perspective on the county’s circumstances. We texted each other as well.

In response, his administrative assistant said that he had a hectic schedule.

Additionally, we’ve included a list of more than 20 allegations made by members of the County Quorum Court against County Judge Gerald Robinson.