Quorum court of Jefferson County considers hiring outside counsel to handle county issues

Jefferson County, Arkansas – The Jefferson County quorum court is now stepping up its battle with the county judge after months of disagreements.

The quorum court pushed for the hiring of a lawyer to represent them on Monday night.

The agenda meeting, chaired by County Judge Gerald Robinson, proceeded as usual; there were no concerns or issues to bring up, and everything was done fast.

He called the meeting to a close, but a few members of the quorum court stayed in their seats, waiting for the commencement of another agenda meeting.

“The second meeting was started by the quorum court when the county judge refused to put items to be put forth on the agenda by other elected officials,” said Jefferson County Justice of the Peace Lloyd Franklin.

It has been a year since this began. Thus, the agenda for the second meeting was different.

Hiring an outside attorney to represent the quorum court was one of the items on the list.

“We need some representation in the room. We need someone who is experienced within the law,” Franklin described.

As they fight the legality of Governor Sanders’ authority over the board, the court has been trying to get the Board of Corrections’ attorney, Abtin Mehdizadegan, on board.

“There is history here about fighting for making this place better and we want to help and that’s what brought us here,” said Mehdizadegan.

He gave an introduction to the quorum court and addressed a few queries, including those on potential court cases.

Judge Robinson was not responsive when we reached out to him.

Before voting on whether to retain outside legal counsel, the quorum court must study the ordinance twice more.